The family as an object of protection and a subject of law

Objectives The family is the basic social cell, the foundation of any social structure. The reason for the special treatment of the family is the functions it has to perform. However, despite the recognition of the uniqueness of the family, the wishful attitude to it is not always confirmed by normative solutions. The purpose of the study is to attempt to identify provisions that speak in favor of recognizing the subjectivity of the family. Material and methods To achieve this goal, the methods of critical analysis, dogmatic-legal and axiological. Results The legislator has made the issues concerning the family the subject of regulation at the level of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which is the normative act with the highest legal force in the system of state law. The basic principles of family law are set out there in order to attempt to provide the family with optimal conditions for the realisation of its natural functions. Conclusions The good of society depends on the good of families. However, this requires a properly prepared, possibly comprehensive, consistently implemented and forward-looking pro-family policy, which the state has not developed because of focusing its actions on ad hoc solutions, which are not always consistent. In addition to material support and social programmes, it seems necessary to change the philosophy of approach to marriage and family, which are currently in crisis. We can just point to the negative fertility rate, which affects the organisation of the pension system, the functioning of the labour market, the education system, the level of innovation and, consequently – GDP – which is one of the basic determinants of wealth.