Greg Carroll left his job as an executive chef in 2009, when  his boss asked him to slash his 500-person staff by half. Since then, Carroll has done some catering, some consulting and some cooking in private homes. But full-time work has proven elusive.

So a few months ago, the 51-year-old Carroll posted an ad on Care.com, a site that pairs caregivers with potential employers. As a divorced father of four, he’s changed diapers, coached soccer and cooked healthy meals for his family. “I’m a great dad … so I thought (child care) might be something to look at.”

Heather Snyder

'Manny' Travis McGowin (center) with his two charges, Carson (left) and Lucas (right).

Carroll is part of a growing trend of men turning to child care work as a way to earn money in a difficult economy. Candi Wingate,  president of the Norfolk, Neb.-based Nannies4Hire.com, estimates she’s seen a 10 percent jump in men looking for childcare work since the economy turned south. Johanna Flattery, with Care.com, said men advertising for child care jobs on the site has risen more than 30 percent since October 2008.

Some of these men are unemployed teachers, or daycare workers looking to go the “manny route.” Some are dads, like Carroll, with plenty of real-world experience but no formal background in caring for other people’s kids. And some have virtually no child care experience, but hope someone might give them a shot, anyway.

The overwhelming majority of nannies and babysitters in the U.S. are women, and plenty of potential employers reflexively shy away from hiring men to care for their kids. Child care is still considered by many to be a “woman’s job,” and parents may wonder why a guy would want to warm bottles, wipe up snot and play with Webkinz.

There are plenty of reasons why families would want to hire a man to watch their kids, said Flattery. “Anecdotally, we’ve seen a lot of mothers with pre-teen boys and teenagers who tend to pursue a male care provider. The reasons have been because these men can ‘keep up with’ the boys and participate in activities.” And single moms with male children often seek out men as care givers because they want a male role model for their sons.

Travis McGowin, a firefighter and part-time “manny” from Prattville, Ala., started working with children at a local YMCA and kept on doing child care throughout fire school.

“I do continue to do this for the extra income, especially because of the way the economy has gone in the past few years,” said McGowin. But he also just loves working with kids.

“Kids accept people for who they are, instead of superficial things. If you have a genuine interest in what they’re doing, they’re going to be interested in you. If you show them love and interest, they’ll love you,” explained McGowin. “Kids have this whole unconditional love thing, and that’s what kept me in it the longest, more so than the money, actually.” 

Have you noticed more men getting into child care? And would you hire a man to care for your children?

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Expenditures on Children by Families, 2010

We know raising kids seems like a bigger stretch than in previous generations, and now here’s proof.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recently released 2010 report on the cost of raising a child includes a comparison with what it cost to raise a child in 1960, versus today.

The verdict: In 50 years, kids have gotten 22 percent more expensive to raise.

The USDA says the average cost of raising a child in 1960 was $25,229, or $185,856 in 2010 dollars.

Last year, the average cost of raising a child from birth to age 17 was $226,920.

The calculations are based on the U.S. average for raising a child in a middle-income, husband-and-wife family. The report cautions that the two estimates are not precisely comparable because of recent changes in the methodology for calculating child care costs, but adds that a general comparison is possible.

The estimates do not include college expenses.

The biggest culprits in the cost increase were health care costs, as well as child care and education expenses. Both categories increased in real terms and as a percentage of total child-rearing expenses.

The child care expenses have increased in part because more moms are now in the workforce.

The cost of food is still a major part of the cost of raising a child -- as any parent well knows -- but it has actually decreased in real terms since 1960. Clothing expenses also have decreased in real terms.

Are you curious how much your child -- or potential child -- could cost you? The new report also includes a handy customizable calendar that lets you estimate how much your child care expenses might be. The calculator factors in such things as geographic area, number of kids and household income.