A recent article on divorce in the New York Times analyzed raw data on the number of divorces occurring nationally, and despite common perceptions about huge divorce rates, concluded that the numbers have declined over the past several years.
Reasons for this are many, but for me, the real reason seems to be buried in this paragraph:
"Some of the decline in divorce clearly stems from the fact that fewer people are getting married - and some of the biggest declines in marriage have come among groups at risk of divorce. But it also seems to be the case that marriages have gotten more stable, as people are marrying later."
This corresponds well to my anecdotal observations over the past several years of practice. Basically, people are choosing to structure their lives in such a way where they aren't marrying early partners, and seem to be waiting until later years to marry. While there are still issues of child custody and parenting time to sort, there aren't any property division issues to be resolved, and this tends to simplify matters.
Even though the issues tend to be stripped down in a breakup of a cohabiting (as opposed to married) couple, the issues of child custody and support are manifestly the same, and involve the same set of competing emotions. It is incumbent on the litigant to carefully consider his or her actions in the very same way one would do in a divorce, and to seek competent and qualified legal assistance when going forward.