David Hoyt, who has not had a job for more than two years now, is a stay-at-home dad. But unlike the growing number of dads who have been forced into the traditionally female role by layoffs, Hoyt and his family actively decided to put dad in charge at home.

“This was more of a choice for us,” Hoyt said of his role as primary parent.

In the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, 82 percent of Americans who have been laid off have been men. March employment numbers show that while 8.8 percent of men over 20 years old are unemployed, only 7 percent of women are without jobs.

Hoyt, 39, who resides in Hyde Park and holds a doctorate in European history from the University of California, Los Angeles, spends his days taking care of his two-year-old son, Isaac. His wife works downtown as an equity analyst.

“I was suffering from involuntary unemployment and it made this an attractive option,” said Hoyt, who has taught at Northwestern University and other schools around the city, but has been unable to land a tenure-track professorship.

“It makes more sense financially for me to say at home and take care of the child,” Hoyt said.

In 2008, 95 percent of married dads with children under the age of 15 were in the labor force for at least one week of the year, while only 70 percent of mothers worked a week or more, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The sectors of the economy affected by the recession are male-dominated, said Jeremy Adam Smith, creator of “Daddy Dialectic,” a blog for fathers who embrace caregiving and egalitarian relationships. In contrast, health care and services, traditionally seen as women-friendly fields, are growing.

In Illinois, employment in the financial industry sector fell 4 percent in March from the year prior, while jobs in education and health services increased 1 percent from a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Women have for so many years taken the lion’s share of caregiving,” said Stephanie Coontz, professor of history and family studies at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. As the primary caregiver, women often choose careers that are more flexible and less lucrative, Coontz said.

“If the father was laid off [in previous generations] most of the time that would send the family into a tailspin of poverty,” said Smith, who lives in San Francisco with his wife and son. But that’s not the case anymore.

“I know a lot of fathers that are getting laid off and are stepping into the home roles,” said Smith, whose book, “The Daddy Shift,” about how stay-at-home fathers and bread winning mothers are transforming the American family, comes out in June. In the 1950s only 10 percent of mothers worked, but now one-third of moms actually make more than their husbands, Smith added.

Like Smith, Hoyt blogs about being a dad. One of his recent blog posts reflects some of his fatherhood frustrations: “Half the time I don’t feel too weird about being the only dad in my son’s parent-tot nursery school class. The other half of the time I freak out.”

Hoyt says the biggest challenge is dealing with the moms who often form women-only friend circles and are reluctant to be too friendly, lest it be taken as flirting.

“It’s really easy to become isolated, there are all kinds of mom’s groups,” said Bruce Zimmerman, who has been a stay-at-home dad for 11 years. “We’re kind of on our own,” he said.

Zimmerman and his wife, Laura, who live in Deerfield, both have master’s degrees in business administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Leading things on the home front, Zimmerman takes care of the cooking, shopping, laundry, errands, bills, permission slips and camp signups for his three children: Melissa, 20; Spencer, 16; and Doran, 15. He has been a Girl Scouts troop leader, school library volunteer, room parent and soccer coach.

“It’s a 24-7 job," Zimmerman said. "Getting a day off is hard."

But now that Melissa is away at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., and the boys are in high school, he is looking to go back to work full time.

Zimmerman worked for a mid-size toy company in Chicago before deciding it would be best for him to be at home with the kids. While acting as the primary caregiver, Zimmerman made sure to keep his skills polished by earning a second master’s degree in library and information science from Dominican University in River Forest and acting as a consultant for a marketing firm.

Hoyt says he, too, would like to go back to work when Isaac is in elementary school. But he is nervous about the prospect of finding a job after not having worked for several years.

It’s a sunny morning in Hyde Park and Hoyt is see-sawing with Isaac, outfitted in a light blue fleece and jeans, after nursery school. Soon they will have lunch. Isaac says his favorite foods are yogurt, noodles and oatmeal. Right now, he doesn’t really like the texture of meat, according to dad.

After eating a midday meal of rice and tofu, Isaac will settle down for a three-hour nap and Hoyt will have what he calls his “free time,” where he reads, writes and takes care of other household chores.

Zimmerman offers a piece of advice for all fathers, stay-at-home or not: get engaged in your children. His youngest son took up the violin, so Zimmerman started paying attention to music more.

“I think being involved in your kid’s life…there is nothing more fun and gratifying,” Zimmerman said.

Click to watch a slideshow of David and his son, Isaac, at the playground.