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
Same-sex marriage in Nebraska couple to file marriage paperwork at the Douglas County Clerk's Office on June 26, 2015. On July 1, 2015, the Eighth Circuit lifted the stay it had imposed on Bataillon's order, allowing his prohibition on the enforcement of Nebraska denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples to take effect. On February 6, 2016, Judge Bataillon issued a permanent injunction striking down the state's defunct same-sex marriage and civil unions ban. Though a formality, the injunction ordered state officials to treat same-sex couples the same as opposite-sex couples in everything from processing marriage certificates to issuing birth certificates, the latter something