The past few decades have witnessed a seismic shift in our country's views about marriage. In Florida and other states, people are reevaluating the benefits of marriage and are waiting longer before getting married. Indeed, many couples now have children before marriage for a variety of reasons. This choice can lead to a child custody dispute if the unmarried couple lives apart or if they later decide to end their relationship.

While a majority of women still have children within the context of marriage, that is not true when women are broken into different demographic groups. A majority of children born to women under the age of 30 are born outside of marriage. Specific minority groups also have births to unmarried mothers in excess of 50 percent. But according to study data, the highest increase in unwed births is among white women who have attended but not graduated from college, a group that traditionally waited until marriage to have children.

Explanations for the change are diverse. Some cite an increase in women joining the workforce. With financial independence, some women no longer need the security that marriage provided to earlier generations. Others are wary of marriage because of bad experiences from their parents' failed marriages. Some explanations are politicized. Conservatives claim that the sexual freedom pioneered by the baby boomer generation left people less likely to marry. Liberals argue that recent damage to the economy has caused women to pause before marrying a mate with a smaller income.

While the causes may be diverse and uncertain, the effects are discrete and palpable. The percentage of births to unwed mothers has been on the rise for decades. This trend may produce a change in the nature of the American family, but many of the old issues remain. The parents will have to determine methods of support for their children and how custody should be divided in the event that they separate.

Source: The New York Times, "For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage," Jason DeParle and Sabrina Tavernise, Feb. 17, 2012.