Being a new father that works in a childcare setting, I am disappointed but unsurprised by the uninformed and absurdly sexist opinions held by some parents that have responded here. The ingrained, socialized sexism concerning men in childcare never fails to rear it's ugly head when the topic is presented, often followed by protestations of "I'm not sexist, but..." or "It's just an emotional thing." Obviously, nobody should be expected to employ someone to watch their children that made them incomfortable, but saying that you would never employ a male carer is as ignorant as any other form of discrimination.
By the same token, could a corporation refuse to employ women in their accounts department, as women have lesser numeracy skills (supposedly, according to studies)? Of course not, and any corporation that did so would be rightfully labelled discriminatory.
Also, I am amazed by how many people seem to be under the delusion that women cannot sexually abuse children. Studies show anywhere from 25-35% of childhood sexual abuse is suffered at the hands of a female abuser. Childhood neglect is almost FOUR times more likely to be perpetrated by a woman. Women abuse. It happens. I wish it didn't, but denying it won't make it go away - being informed will.
Let's get facts straight before displaying our ignorance, bare-faced.
I also find the idea that men are programmed to "dump seed and run" deeply offensive and based on the worst, most unfounded assertions of evolutionary psychology. These are scientists still tied to the savannah theory of evolution, folks. They're backwards. I understand that the nature of lactation and pregnancy tends to make people believe that women are "natural" carers, but that is just biology - psychologically, as statistics show, women are actually more likely to neglect a child than men. Evolutionary psychology seems quaint in light of our modern reality, where it becomes more and more clear that the differences between the sexes don't extend far beyond physiology, the rest being socialized. My grandfather, for example, raised two girls while his wife drank and was rarely at home, spending no time caring for her children.
Maybe we ought to consider what knee-jerk anti-male responses say about US and OUR psychological makeup, because it doesn't say a thing about male carers, except perhaps to cast light on how difficult a job they have.
As a personal aside, one of the best carers I have ever had the privilege of working with was male, and my boss, who has been in childcare for almost 20 years, agrees with me that he was one of the best workers she has employed.