[Bluecobra]

So you spent roughly a quarter of your career not working? That's likely a red flag for a hiring manager. Why would they risk hiring you and you quit when they can hire someone with no gaps in their history? Should they care about this? No, but that's just the way it is and employment gaps are not a protected class.

[type-r]

not in my experience. coming out of college, i worked for 3 years then took 18 months off. nobody i spoke to cared. if they asked about it, it was out of genuine interest for what i got into during that time.

[ProZsolt]

Same for me. After my first job (3.5 years) I took a 1.5 year long sabbatical to travel around New Zealand. I even put that on my CV. I think it made me more interesting for the interviewer.