Objectives:
The public health insurance system in Poland guarantees children free access to benefits, but the system suffers from organizational and financial problems related to the cost of treatment. Aim of the study. Understanding and evaluating the use of health care by families with children in Poland.

Material and methods:
Information on the use of health care by single family households in Poland in 2009-2015 was obtained from the reports "Social Diagnosis". The study analyzed the sources of health care financing, the reasons for health care resignation, the amount of expenditure and the willingness to buy additional health insurance.

Results:
Single-family households most often benefited from publicly funded health care (93.5%–96.2%), with a high proportion of families with 1 or 2 children also benefiting from private and employer-paid services. In all analyzed types of single-family households, the most notable reasons for financial reasons were the departure to the sanatorium, dental treatment and rehabilitation. Incomplete families compared to other types of single family households most often resigned from health and medical services due to financial reasons despite necessity, and also suffered the lowest expenses for treatment, research and medicine.

Conclusions:
There are variations in the use of private health care services and the renunciation of benefits according to the number of children in the family. Significant barriers to access to health care among incomplete families require the active involvement of public health institutions in developing solutions aimed at protecting children from socio-economic disadvantage.