Development economist Rema Hanna sees the thousands of new social protection programs created during the COVID-19 pandemic as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study the best ways to help lift people out of poverty. The Harvard Kennedy School professors tell PolicyCast host Ralph Ranalli that the COVID-19 pandemic came with massive economic and social disruption. People couldn’t work, and there were widespread closures of not just businesses but also schools and other social institutions. Governments and relief organizations leaped into action, and by last May more than 220 countries or territories had either planned or implemented more than 3,000 new social protection programs.