Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)

Julie M. Whittaker
Specialist in Income Security

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) benefits are available only to those individuals who have become unemployed as a direct result of a declared major disaster. First created in 1970 through P.L. 91-606, DUA benefits are authorized by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Relief Act (the Stafford Act), which authorizes the President to issue a major disaster declaration after state and local government resources have been overwhelmed by a natural catastrophe or, “regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or explosion in any part of the United States” (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)).

The DUA program provides income support to individuals who become unemployed as a direct result of a major disaster and who are not eligible for regular Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefits. DUA is funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is administered by the Department of Labor (DOL) through each state’s UC agency. DUA beneficiaries (because they are not entitled to regular UC) are not eligible to receive Extended Benefits (EB) or Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) benefits.

The Deepwater oil spill was not declared a major disaster under the Stafford Act; thus, workers who have lost their jobs on account of the spill are not eligible for DUA.

This report contains information on how to ascertain if an individual is eligible for DUA benefits.


Date of Report: May 26, 2011
Number of Pages: 9
Order Number: RS22022
Price: $19.95

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