在家庭結構變遷的趨勢下，單親家庭的成長是現代社會關切的重要課題之一。雖然臺灣地區男、女性單親家庭的比例約為4:6，不若歐美地區各國女性單親家庭高達八成來得懸殊，但在以父系親屬為主體的臺灣社會，女性單親家庭面臨的生活處境仍是特別需要被關注的。而在論及女性生活處境及相關支持體系時，非正式支持系統的親屬支持常被視為理所當然。當「嫁出去的女兒，潑出去的水」、「生為X家人、死為X家鬼」的傳統觀念仍然充斥於臺灣社會中，那麼，女性單親家長與其源出之根－娘家，以及因婚姻而產生的另一個家族－婆家之間，這樣的微妙關係如何在形成單親及經歷單親的歷程中產生變化？更重要的是，女性單親家長如何看待這些常常被視為理所當然的支持系統？本論文即以女性單親家長為研究對象，期望了解女性單親家長如何主觀詮釋家庭支持(family support)。為達上述目的，研究者採用質性研究之焦點團體法，並輔以深度訪談法。共有21位女性單親家長參與訪談，另外相關工作人員有關女性單親家庭支持系統部分的觀點亦適時納入本文之研究發現中。研究發現，婆家或前配偶與女性單親間的關係是漸行漸遠，終至形同陌路。而血濃於水的娘家亦並非完全是女性單親家長避風的港灣，阻礙女性單親家長獲得娘家支持的部分原因可能源自個人的主觀認知，另一部分則是女性單親自身的經驗。女性單親家長徘徊在「外客」與「過客」之間，凸顯女性單親家庭面臨的困境，而女性單親家長獲得的家庭支持更多的是一種偶然，而非絕對的必然。同時，也讓我們必須再度正視女性單親家庭為獨立家戶之社會事實與必要性。未來在政策規劃與實務工作推動上，更應積極營造免於被標籤、感受關懷與支持的友善氛圍。

The growth and impacts of single parent families are one of the most concerned issues in the contemporary studies. From the perspectives of the Taiwanese culture, married women are like the split water, belong to the families they are married. When the status of married women changed, how female single parents has experienced the process of becoming a single parent? How do they feel? What happened to them? In order to reach the above goals, the researcher used focus group method and in-depth interview to collect the data. The subjective interpretations of 21 female single parents are explored. Two male single parents and 27 social service providers are also interviewed to formulate the complete and true family support pictures of female-headed households. Results indicated that the family support systems are limited among interviewed female-headed households. The informants pointed that their relationships with conjugal families are distant. They are like foreigners when their marriage are put an end. Concerning to the relationships with their families of origin, female single parents perceived the nature of transition and instability. Some implications are discussed to develop a coordinated social service delivery to help these women in need.