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Daylight Saving Time
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What's the point of Daylight Saving Time?
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Alarm clock Should the United States keep Daylight Saving Time?

Daylight Saving Time

Should the U.S. keep Daylight Saving Time?
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‱History

In 2027, in the United States, Daylight Saving Time (DST) will begin on Sunday, March 14, when clocks will “spring forward” one hour at 2 am (to 3 am) and will end on Sunday, November 7, when clocks will “fall back” to Standard Time at 2 am (to 1 am).

Daylight Saving Time
Daylight Saving TimeA 1918 poster announcing Daylight Saving Time in the United States.

As Encyclopaedia Britannica explains, “The practice was first suggested in a whimsical essay [“An Economical Project”] by Benjamin Franklin in 1784.” The mandatory time changes were first implemented nationally in the United States on March 31, 1918, as a temporary wartime effort (during World War I) to save coal and oil, used for heating and lighting homes and businesses. Repealed nationwide in 1919, some individual localities (such as New York City) maintained the biannual time change in what Time magazine called “a chaos of clocks” until 1966, when the Uniform Time Act made the twice-yearly time change consistent nationwide. [8] [48]

What's the point of Daylight Saving Time?
What's the point of Daylight Saving Time?Have you ever wondered what people mean when they say "spring forward" and "fall back?"

Year-round DST has been implemented twice in American history, once during World War II, from 1942-45 to conserve energy for the war effort, and again as a result of the energy crisis of 1973, when the U.S. Congress mandated Emergency Daylight Saving Time from January-October 1974. Each time the change was greatly unpopular. As WWII ended, only 17 percent of citizens wanted to keep “war time” (DST) year-round, and some 53 percent of citizens opposed keeping DST during the 1970s crisis. Most objectionable to many was the fact that, in some parts of the country, sunrise wouldn’t occur until after 9 am, forcing children to wait for buses or to walk to school in the dark.[39] [40] [45] [35]

In the U.S., 48 states participate in DST. However, two states—Arizonaand Hawaii—some Amish communities, and the American territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands) do not observe DST. [38]

Daylight Saving Time (called “Summer Time” in some areas of the world) was observed in just 60 countries and jurisdictions in 2026, while 173 did not participate in the time change. Like the United States, some countries have a patchwork of DST observance: Australia, Canada, Chile, France, and Greenland, among others.[38]

A 2020 poll found 40 percent of Americans wanted to stay in Standard Time all year, 31 percent preferred to stay in Daylight Saving Time all year, with the remaining population (28 percent) opting to keep the time change twice a year. However, in a 2022 Monmouth University poll, those wanting to stay on Standard Time all year had dropped to 13 percent, those opting for DST had risen to 44 percent, while 35 percent would keep the time change twice a year. By 2026, 43 percent of Americans would stay on DST all year, while 28 percent would opt for Standard Time year round. While Americans are not in agreement about whether to keep DST or Standard Time all year, most would prefer to stop switching between the two. [20] [34] [44] [11]

In the United States, DST is governed by federal law. On March 15, 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the Sunshine Protection Act that would have made DST permanent as of November 20, 2023, if approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and signed by President Joe Biden. The delay was meant to give airlines and other transportation providers time to adjust to the change, as they set schedules months in advance. However, no action was taken by the House to advance the bill, rendering it dead.[41] [42]

The efforts to make DST permanent are not limited to the United States. In March 2026, the people of British Columbia set their clocks ahead for the last time. The Canadian province adopted permanent DST, a move supported by 90 percent of the population, according to British Columbia premier David Eby.[13]

A January 2025 Gallup poll found that support for DST dropped to just 40 percent in the United States. When asked what they would prefer, 24 percent answered they would rather have DST the whole year, while 48 percent favored standard time the whole year. Only 19 percent would keep the current practice of changing the time twice a year. [49]

On April 11, 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social: “The House and Senate should push hard for more Daylight at the end of a day. Very popular and, most importantly, no more changing of the clocks, a big inconvenience and, for our government, A VERY COSTLY EVENT!!!” The House and Senate had recently reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent. The bill had not advanced past committee as of March 9, 2026.[37] [36]

Pros and Cons at a Glance

PROSCONS
Pro 1: DST promotes safety. Read More.Con 1: DST is bad for your health. Read More.
Pro 2: DST is good for business and the economy. Read More.Con 2: DST drops productivity. Read More.
Pro 3: DST promotes active lifestyles and better health. Read More.Con 3: DST is expensive. Read More.

Pro Arguments

 (Go to Con Arguments)

Pro 1: DST promotes safety.

Longer daylight hours make driving safer, lowers car insurance rates, and decreases the risk of pedestrian accidents. [3] [30]

Economists Jennifer Doleac and Nicholas Sanders found that robberies drop about 7 percent overall and 27 percent in the evening hours after the spring time change. They state,

Most street crime occurs in the evening around common commuting hours of 5 to 8 pm, and more ambient light during typical high-crime hours makes it easier for victims and passers-by to see potential threats and later identify wrongdoers.[17] [22]

Also, daylight in the evening makes it safer for joggers, people walking dogs after work, and children playing outside, among others, because drivers are able to see people more easily and criminal activity is lowered.

As Doleac and Sanders conclude, DST not only makes us safer but society would be safest if it moved to year-round DST, “permanently shifting that hour of daylight to the evening, and then leaving our clocks alone. Our research suggests that we’d be safer for it.”[16]

Pro 2: DST is good for business and the economy.

Later daylight means more people shopping after work, increasing retail sales, and more people driving, increasing gas and snacks sales for eight months of the year (the time spent in DST). [2] [18] [19]

The golf industry has claimed that one month of DST was worth some $400 million because of the extended evening hours that golfers can play. “We would lose 100 tee times a day if daylight saving time goes away,” reported a golf course in Omaha, Nebraska, in 2025. “Switching to permanent standard time would cost us $500,000 a year.” Similarly, the barbecue industry estimated their profits increased $150 million due to one month of DST. Extra daylight even boosts savings by decreasing robberies. In 2007 an estimated $59 million was saved because fewer robberies were committed due to the extra daylight.[2] [3] [33] [32]

Chambers of Commerce tend to support DST because of the positive effect on the economy. As CNBC reported in 2017, in the 30 days following the end of DST, shoppers in Los Angeles “spent about 4.6 percent less on fuel, 4.8 percent less at retail stores and 5.9 percent less at grocery stores.” [21] [31] [27]

Pro 3: DST promotes active lifestyles and better health.

When the day is lighter later, people tend to participate in more outdoor activities after work.[14]

As noted by Hendrik Wolff, associate professor of economics at Simon Fraser University, because of DST, “People engaged in more outdoor recreation and less indoor-TV watching 
 An additional 3 percent of people engaged in outdoor behaviors who otherwise would have stayed indoors.” [2]

A study of 23,000 children from 9 countries came to a similar conclusion. As reported in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity,

In Europe and Australia, evening daylight seems to play a causal role in increasing children’s activity in a relatively equitable manner. Although the average increase in activity is small in absolute terms, these increases apply across all children in a population. . . . We therefore conclude that, by shifting the physical activity mean of the entire population, the introduction of additional daylight saving measures could yield worthwhile public health benefits.[12]

Con Arguments

 (Go to Pro Arguments)

Con 1: DST is bad for your health.

Later sunrises and sunsets and changing sleep patterns, even by one hour, go against a person’s natural circadian rhythm (our internal body clock governing sleep, hormone release, digestion, and body temperature) and has negative consequences for health. As UNC Health reports, the risk of a heart attack increases by about 24 percent on the Monday following the spring time change. Individuals most at medical risk during time changes include older adults, individuals with pre-existing health conditions, shift workers, and people already suffering from sleep disorders.[1] [2] [26]

Researchers have also found an increase in cluster headaches (sudden and debilitating headaches) after the fall time change. [15]

James Wyatt at Rush University Medical Center reports, “We’re encountering an increase in extra auto and workplace accidents on Monday or perhaps even carrying through the first week of the Spring time shift.” [1]

In the weeks following the spring time change, male suicide rates rose in Australia compared to the weeks following the return to Standard Time in the fall. [4]

DST also increases the risk that a car accident will be fatal by 5-6.5 percent, causing 30 more deaths from car accidents annually. [29]

Con 2: DST drops productivity.

The Monday after the spring time change is called “sleepy Monday” because it is one of the most sleep-deprived days of the year. The week after the spring time change sees an increase in “cyberloafing” (employees wasting time on the Internet) because they’re tired and lack focus. [5] [23]

Till Roenneberg, a German chronobiologist who studies the body’s relationship with light and dark, notes that the human circadian clock doesn’t adjust to DST and the “consequence of that is that the majority of the population has drastically decreased productivity, decreased quality of life, increasing susceptibility to illness, and is just plain tired.” [2]

A 2024 study of web developers around the world found that the DST clock change caused

two days of declines before activity returns to baseline levels. However, hourly analysis reveals a transition to Daylight Saving Time that is much longer—losses appear in the early working hours of work days into a second week following the initiation of Daylight Saving Time.[25]

Con 3: DST is expensive.

William F. Shughart II, economist at Utah State University, argues that the simple act of changing clocks costs Americans $1.7 billion in lost time and productivity while shifting, updating, and adjusting to the time changes.[2]

The Air Transport Association estimated that DST cost the airline industry $147 million dollars in 2007 thanks to confused time schedules with countries that do not participate in the time change. [1]

A review of metropolitan areas in the U.S. found an economic cost of over $670 million due to workplace injuries, traffic accidents, heart attacks and strokes, and lost productivity, all contributed to by DST. [47]

Moreover, though DST has been championed as an energy-saving move, the New York Post reported that the time change actually came at an environmental cost. The increased activity associated with the extra hour “led to a 1 percent increase in residential energy consumption by consumers in Indiana—costing households in the state an extra $9 million on their electric bills and resulting in another estimated $1.7 to $5.5 million in social costs of increased pollution emissions.”[24]

Did you know?

  1. Benjamin Franklin is often credited with the idea of DST because, in a satirical letter to the authors of The Journal of Paris, he suggested the French wake earlier to take advantage of “using sunshine instead of candles.” [6] [7] [8]
  2. DST as we know it was proposed in 1895 by a New Zealander, amateur entomologist George Vernon Hudson, who wanted longer hours for insect study. [28]
  3. The first locality to enact DST was Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay, Ontario), Canada, in 1908. The first country to enact DST was Germany on April 30, 1916, although the Germans dropped the time change at end of World War I. [6] [8]
  4. American farmers were opposed to DST because, regardless of what the clock said, their cows weren’t ready to be milked until later in the day during DST. [1] [8]
  5. A resort in Madagascar created its own DST, which runs an hour ahead of the rest of the country, so the lemurs would “naturally join us in the Oasis garden . . . for the ‘5 O’clock tea.’” [9]
  6. Some ancient civilizations are known to have used practices similar to DST. Roman water clocks, for example, used different scales for different times of the year. [10]

Assessment quiz

After reading the above debate, take our assessment quiz to test your knowledge of this issue. Good luck!

1-minute survey

After reading this debate, take our quick survey to see how this information affected your opinion of this topic. We appreciate your feedback.

Discussion questions

  1. Should the United States keep Daylight Saving Time? Why or why not?
  2. Do you feel the effects of springing forward and/or falling back? What effects do you feel and how do they impact your day?
  3. Compare and contrast the economic benefits and disadvantages of Daylight Saving Time. Is DST good or bad for the economy overall? Explain your answer.
  4. What questions do you have after reading the debate above? Where might you find answers?
  5. What was the most interesting thing you learned from this debate?
  6. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? How and why?. If your thoughts have not changed, explain how and why you better understand the other side of the debate.
  7. Push for the position and policies you support by writing local officials, U.S. senators and representatives, or other people in a position to make the change you champion.

Sources

  1. Alexander Abad-Santos, “Daylight Saving Time Is America’s Greatest Shame” (November 1, 2013), theatlantic.com
  2. Brian Handwerk, “Time to Move On? The Case against Daylight Saving Time” (November 1, 2013), nationalgeographic.com
  3. Dan Nosowitz, “Shut Up about Daylight Saving Time, It’s Actually Great” (October 31, 2016), popularmechanics.com
  4. Michael Berk, et al., “Small Shifts in Diurnal Rhythms Are Associated with an Increase in Suicide: The Effect of Daylight Saving” (January 2008), Sleep and Biological Rhythms, onlinelibrary.wiley.com
  5. Michelle Gallardo, “Are You Goofing Off at Work Today?” (March 13, 2012), abc7chicago.com
  6. Benjamin Franklin, “Letter to the Editor of The Journal of Paris, 1784” (1784), webexhibits.org
  7. David Preau, “A Brief History of Daylight Saving Time” (accessed February 28, 2017), seizethedaylight.com
  8. Christopher Klein, “8 Things You May Not Know about Daylight Saving Time” (March 9, 2012), history.com
  9. Malaka Gharib, “Much of the World Doesn’t Do Daylight Saving Time. How Come?” (March 12, 2016), npr.org
  10. Timeanddate.com, “History of Daylight Saving Time – DST” (accessed February 28, 2017), timeanddate.com
  11. Alexander Rossell Hayes, “The Times They Are A-Changin’ — but Most Americans Would Rather They Not” (March 4, 2026), yougov.com
  12. Anna Goodman, Angie S. Page, Ashley R. Cooper, “Daylight Saving Time as a Potential Public Health Intervention” (October 23, 2014), pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  13. Rhitu Chatterjee, “British Columbia To Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent” (March 7, 2026), npr.org
  14. Leah Zerbe, “The Shocking Truth behind Daylight Saving Time” (March 11, 2016), rodalesorganiclife.com
  15. Tracy Miller, “Daylight Saving Time Ends: How to Fall Back the Healthy Way” (November 1, 2013), nydailynews.com
  16. Jennifer Doleac and Nicholas J. Sanders, “Fighting Crime with Daylight Saving Time” (October 29, 2015), brookings.edu
  17. Jennifer Doleac and Nicholas J. Sanders, “Under the Cover of Darkness: How Ambient Light Influences Criminal Activity” (December 8, 2015), The Review of Economics and Statistics, jenniferdoleac.com
  18. NPR, “The Reasoning behind Changing Daylight Saving” (March 8, 2007), npr.org
  19. Lucas Powers, “Daylight Saving Time 2016: How Big Business Benefits from More Sunshine” (March 12, 2016), cbc.ca
  20. Princeton Survey Research Associates International, “Daylight Savings Time” (accessed March 4, 2019), princetondatasource.com
  21. Brian Handwerk, “The Politics of Daylight Saving Time” (October 28, 2015), nationalgeographic.com
  22. Kevin Drum, “Want a Safer City? Keep Daylight Savings Time Year Round!” (October 31, 2015), motherjones.com
  23. Cari Romm, “Thanks to Daylight Saving Time, Nobody’s Getting Anything Done at Work Today” (March 13, 2017), nymag.com
  24. Breck Dumas, Eric Revell, “How Daylight Saving Time Clock Changes Upend the Economy” (November 4, 2023), nypost.com
  25. Andrew Dickinson, Glen R. Waddell, “Productivity Losses in the Transition to Daylight Saving Time: Evidence from Hourly GitHub Activity” (November 2024), sciencedirect.com
  26. Sarah Spelsberg, “Is Daylight Saving Time a Hidden Danger? Here’s What the Science Says” (March 3, 2025), unchealthsoutheastern.org
  27. Chloe Aiello, “When Days Get Shorter So Do Consumers’ Budgets, Report Says” (November 3, 2017), cnbc.com
  28. Sandy Hingston, “Daylight Saving Time Is Stupid and Expensive and Dangerous” (October 30, 2015), phillymag.com
  29. Austin C. Smith, “Spring Forward at Your Own Risk: Daylight Saving Time and Fatal Vehicle Crashes” (April 2016), American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, aeaweb.org
  30. Beverly Bird, “The Economic Impacts of Daylight Saving Time” (March 13, 2017), reviewjournal.com
  31. Ben Steverman, “Proof Daylight Saving Time Is Dumb, Dangerous, and Costly” (March 10, 2017), bloomberg.com
  32. Cody Alexander, “How Daylight Saving Time Benefits Golfers and the Golf Industry” (March 7, 2024), bloodline.golf
  33. Margery A. Beck, “Daylight Saving Time is Coming and the Golf Industry Can’t Wait” (March 7, 2025), apnews.com
  34. AP and NORC, “Daylight Saving Time vs Standard Time” (accessed February 27, 2020), apnorc.org
  35. Jordan Friedman, “America Once Made Daylight Saving Time Permanent. Here’s What Went Wrong” (October 30, 2025), nationalgeographic.com
  36. Donald Trump (April 11, 2025), truthsocial.com
  37. Chandelis Duster, “Trump Urges Congress to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent” (April 12, 2025), npr.org
  38. Time and Date, “Daylight Saving Time around the World 2025” (accessed March 9, 2026), timeanddate.com
  39. Harry Enten, “The Daylight Saving Time Debate Is Nothing to Lose Sleep Over” (March 12, 2022), cnn.com
  40. Amelia Nierenberg, “Fall Back? Spring Ahead? How about Neither, Experts Say.; (March 11, 2022), nytimes.com
  41. Alexander Bolton, “Senate Unanimously Approves Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent” (March 15, 2022), thehill.com
  42. NBC Chicago, “Permanent Daylight Saving Time Up in the Air as Bill Not Yet Scheduled for House Debate” (September 8, 2022), nbcchicago.com
  43. Time and Date, “Daylight Saving Time around the World 2021” (accessed October 18, 2022), timeanddate.com
  44. Monmouth University, “Few Americans Like Resetting Clocks” (March 15, 2022), monmouth.edu
  45. National Conference of State Legislatures, “Daylight Saving Time: State Legislation” (October 9, 2025), ncsl.org
  46. CNN, “Daylight Saving Time Fast Facts” (October 17, 2025), cnn.com
  47. Chris Chmura, “Economic Cost of Daylight Savings Time: $670 Million” (January 13, 2025), chmura.com
  48. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Daylight Saving Time” (January 11, 2025), britannica.com
  49. Mary Claire Evans and Jeffrey M. Jones, “More Than Half in U.S. Want Daylight Saving Time Sunsetted” (March 4, 2025), news.gallup.com