Covid wrecked the economy and sent unemployment skyrocketing. But poverty went down, and the percentage of households facing food insecurity remained stagnant. POLITICO's Helena Bottemiller Evich explains how ambitious spending plans gave some Americans a lifeline.

Helena Bottemiller Evich is a senior food and agriculture reporter for POLITICO.
Jeremy Siegel is a host for POLITICO Dispatch.
Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the senior producer of POLITICO audio.
Raghu Manavalan is a senior editor for POLITICO audio.

Read more from POLITICO's Recovery Lab series.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices