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=== Prime minister ===
After the Second World War, Van Acker became Prime Minister of Belgium in four different cabinets and served as Minister of Labour and Social Services, Minister of Public Health, Minister of Mobility and Minister of Mining (which led to his nickname). From 1961 until 1974 he served as President of the Chamber of Representatives. He was named Minister of State in 1958. During Van Acker's first premiership, compulsory disability insurance<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=64U_dlAI6g0C&pg=PA222|title=Two Centuries of Solidarity: German, Belgian, and Dutch Social Health Care Insurance 1770-2008|last=Companje|first=Karel-Peter|last2=Veraghtert|first2=Karel|last3=Widdershoven|first3=Brigitte|date=2009-01-01|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=9789052603445|language=en}}</ref> and compulsory health insurance for manual and non-manual workers was introduced in March 1945, and from January 1946 onwards health insurance funds earmarked a special contribution that covered the costs of preventive open-air cures.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sr01WdPbghYC&pg=PA62|title=The History of Youth Work in Europe: Relevance for Youth Policy Today|last=Coussée|first=Filip|last2=Verschelden|first2=Griet|last3=Williamson|first3=Howard|date=2012-01-01|publisher=Council of Europe|isbn=9789287172440|language=en}}</ref> To improve health and safety in mines, a Decree was introduced in December 1945 provididing for the compulsory use in dusty places of devices “capable of allaying or suppressing coal and stone dust.”<ref>SAFETY IN COAL MINES VOLUME I: Organisation on the National and International Levels, International Labour Office, Geneva, 1953</ref> A number of laws were also passed from April 1945 onwards that liberalized entitlement to allowances for deportees of foreign nationality.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UFVFmxjpqLgC&pg=PA89|title=The Jews are Coming Back: The Return of the Jews to Their Countries of Origin After WW II|last=Bankier|first=David|date=2005-01-01|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=9781571815279|language=en}}</ref>
An Order of October 1945 issued general regulations for the medical control of workers in industrial and commercial undertakings, public services and public utilities. Another Order introduced that same month issued general regulations concerning personal equipment for health protection.<ref>http://staging.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/P/09611/09611(1946-22).pdf</ref> Following a 1940 law that enabled homeowners wishing to begin reconstruction of their properties to apply for a “repair loan at a low rate of interest, an Act was passed in December 1945 that enabled them to acquire an interest-free advance on their compensation.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P84es4zwTiAC&pg=PA264|title=Living with History, 1914 - 1964: la Reconstruction en Europe Après la Première Et la Seconde Guerre Mondiale Et Le Rôle de la Conservation Des Monuments Historiques|last=Bullock|first=Nicholas|last2=Verpoest|first2=Luc|date=2011-01-01|publisher=Leuven University Press|isbn=9789058678416|language=en}}</ref> That same month, a Supreme Council for Hygiene in Mines was established with the aim of furthering the progress of industrial hygiene.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u14WxkRX9LEC&pg=PA5|title=Coal Mines Committee|publisher=International Labour Organization|language=en}}</ref> In February 1946, the formation of safety and hygiene committees was made compulsory.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QD3pAAAAMAAJ|title=Industrial Safety Survey|date=1950-01-01|publisher=International Labour Office.|language=en}}</ref> In September 1945, workers’ compensation was extended to household maids, and for accidents to and from work in December 1945.<ref>http://www.asf.com.pt/NR/rdonlyres/C5875B58-AD90-4508-8012-321A93CF0871/0/Interven%C3%A7%C3%A3oCarineLuyckx281113.pdf</ref> A Legislative Order of January 1946 regulating annual holidays covered all persons “bound by contracts for the hiring of services or by contracts of apprenticeship,” and laid down the essential principles for the grant of paid holidays, “leaving scope for their adaptation to the special needs of the various branches of industrial activity.”<ref>http://staging.ilo.org/public/libdoc/ilo/1949/49B09_90_engl.pdf</ref>
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The first three cabinets led by Van Acker were short-lived because of the [[Royal Question|crisis pertaining to]] [[Leopold III of Belgium|Leopold III]] which held Belgium in its grip from 1944–1951.
Initiatives were taken by Van Acker's fourth cabinet to expand social spending on pensions, housing, employment, and education. Steps were also taken to reduce the workweek and to reduce the term of compulsory military service from 21 to 18 months.<ref>Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey Donald F. Busky</ref> A 45-hour workweek was introduced in 1955, and in 1956 a law was passed that doubled holiday leave entitlement from 6 to 12 days.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BD6DBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|title=Architecture and the Welfare State|last=Swenarton|first=Mark|last2=Avermaete|first2=Tom|last3=Heuvel|first3=Dirk van den|date=2014-09-15|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317661900|language=en}}</ref> Earnings-related pension schemes were introduced for manual workers (1955), seamen (1956), and white-collar workers (1957).<ref>Growth to Limits. The Western European Welfare States Since World War II by Peter Flora</ref> Allowances were introduced in 1955<ref>Growth to Limits. The Western European Welfare States Since World War II by Peter Flora</ref> to cover demolition and rehousing while pension contributions were made obligatory in 1956.<ref>http://www.socialsecurity.fgov.be/docs/en/alwa2011_en.pdf</ref> An Act of June 1954 increased the minimum pension and introduced index-lining of for pension benefits, while an Act of July 1957 introduced a wage-related pension formula for white-collar workers.<ref>Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II, Volume 4 edited by Peter Flora</ref> Under the 1955 Collard Act, municipalities could only admit private schools “after they had created public-sector ones and only where there a need for them was felt.”<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LTdIfDfLss4C&pg=PA96|title=Institutional Context of Education Systems in Europe: A Cross-Country Comparison on Quality and Equity|last=Hofman|first=R. H.|last2=Hofman|first2=W. H. A.|last3=Gray|first3=J. M.|last4=Daly|first4=P.|date=2006-01-16|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9781402027451|language=en}}</ref> New schools were also built, while in the 1956 budget, provision was made (for the first time) the purchase by the State of school supplies for “the benefit of pupils in primary and nursery-infant sections attached to State secondary education establishments."<ref>http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001329/132929eo.pdf</ref> In addition, a law of March 1958 made public authorities responsible for the cost of transporting (where necessary) abnormal and similarly handicapped children to special schools.<ref>http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001329/132933eo.pdf</ref>
Altogether, the various social reforms realised under Van Acker's fourth cabinet led him to be known as the father of Belgian [[social security]].
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