The Good of the Family as a Criterion of the Principle of Subsidiarity

Abstract

The article tackles the issue of the principle of subsidiarity regarding the family. The principle of subsidiarity was formulated in the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno in 1931 and it is also recognized outside the Church on the regulative plane of social life. It defines the proper relations of smaller structures (families) to large ones (the state). On account of its specific structure and social roles (especially education), the family is by nature a community that calls for the implementation of solidarity and subsidiarity by the state. It seems that a special domain for the implementation of this principle includes initiatives supporting fertility of the family, employment and housing policy, and education. Even without undertaking a detailed analysis of these spheres in Polish conditions, a discrepancy between postulated principles and actual social policy is clearly visible.