Sheng nu cites studies that show that women are now breaking the tradition of "mandatory marriage" to have fewer children or marry later on in life. Other typologically similar terms that are still used in the modern lexicon of other countries and cultures show the concept has existed in some cases as far back as the 16th century. The term spinster was used to describe unmarried or single women of a marriageable age. It wasn't until 2004 when the Civil Partnership Act replaced the word spinster with "single" in the relationship history section of marriage certificates in the UK. Subsequently, at the
Bachelor Father (UK TV series) Bachelor Father (UK TV series) Bachelor Father is a British sitcom starring Ian Carmichael that aired for two series from 1970 to 1971. It was written by Richard Waring. "Bachelor Father" is loosely based on the life of Peter Lloyd Jeffock. Jeffock was a bachelor who had fostered twelve children. He later wrote an autobiography called "Only Uncle". Richard Waring, who wrote "Bachelor Father", based some of the plots on incidents told in "Only Uncle". Waring said that he would have kept more to "Only Uncle", but many of the true stories were so far-fetched, he thought the public wouldn't