Most Americans dislike the twice-yearly time reset. But which time clock should be followed? Here’s the 2022 update on the increasingly unpopular practice of changing clocks in a modern world. Show
In the fall, we set our clocks back 1 hour on the first Sunday in November, signaling the end of Daylight Saving Time and a return to Standard Time. Then, in March, we set our clocks forward 1 hour, beginning Daylight Saving Time again. See this year’s DST dates. Many Americans (as well as Europeans and people around the world) believe that changing the clocks is an antiquated practice from wartime that has more negative than positive results. According to one study, 7 out of 10 Americans today do not want to change their clocks and think it’s a bad idea. According to another 2022 study, 6 out of 10 Americans would stop fooling with the clock. You get the idea. Here’s the catch: Not everyone agrees whether the clocks should stay on standard time (the clock defined by the sun) OR stay on Daylight Saving Time (DST, the clock that darkens mornings to brighten evenings). A CBS News poll in March 2022 found that:
Another 2022 Monmouth poll found that
In other words, those want to stick with a single year-round time prefer to have later sunrise and sunset hours (44%) than the earlier setting offered by standard time (13%). The numbers of Americans who want to stop resetting the time and also want to make Daylight Saving Time permanent have been increasing steadily over the decades. This
growing frustration change in attitude may be partly due to the computer revolution and a host of other modern-day reasons. The Latest News From the U.S. StatesEarlier this year, the Senate passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent. To note, the federal Uniform Time Act allows permanent standard time but not permanent DST. In March 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act (S.623) which was introduced by a senator from Florida. This would establish permanent daylight saving time in the U.S. in November 2023. To the surprise of many, the Act was passed by unanimous voice consent. But since federal law does not currently allow year-round DST, the Sunshine Protection Act needed to be passed by the House and then the president. In June 2022, the U.S. House failed to pass the bill, which is officially stalled and scheduled to expire in December. According to ncsl.org: State legislatures have considered at least 450 bills and resolutions in recent years to establish year-round daylight saving time as soon as federal law allows it. In the last five years, 19 states have enacted legislation or passed resolutions to provide for year-round daylight saving time, if Congress were to allow such a change, and in some cases, if surrounding states enact the same legislation. The 19 states are Colorado (2022), Alabama, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi and Montana (2021). Idaho, Louisiana, Ohio (resolution), South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming (2020). Delaware, Maine, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington (2019). Florida (2018; California voters also authorized such a change that year, but legislative action is pending). Some states have commissioned studies on the topic including Massachusetts (2017) and Maine (2021). Updated 10/2022. Credit: https://www.ncsl.org/ The History of Time ChangeWe’ve grappled with the changing of the clocks for decades. wartime. Permanent DST has been attempted and reverted twice in the U.S. It started with a change from 1918. Daylight Saving Was a War Time EffortHistorically, the changing of clocks was established by law in 1918 as a fuel saving measure during World War I. However, there is a common myth that DST was established to extend the daylight hours for farmers. This is not true. Farmers were extremely opposed to having to turn their clocks forward and back twice a year. Changing hours is actually a disruption for the farmer. Imagine telling a dairy cow accustomed to being milked at 5:00 a.m. that their milking time needs to be moved an hour because the truck is coming to pick up their milk at a different time! For the farmer, plants and animals, it is the sun and seasons which determines their activity. The 1918 law lasted only seven months. It proved unpopular with farmers and other folks. However, after repeal in 1919, some state and localities continued the observance. It took another war, World War II, to introduce a law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, establishing year-round DST. This “War Time” law lasted from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945. From 1945 to 1966, observance of DST was quite inconsistent across the states. There were no uniform rules. This caused massive confusion in the transportation and broadcasting industry which pushed for standardization. Farmers continued to oppose it. Photo Credit: Zaccio/ShutterstockUniform Time Act of 1966To address this confusion, permanent DST was introduced by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 12, 1966 and signed into law as the Uniform Time Act. This established a system of uniformity within each time zone. Daylight saving time was the law throughout the United States and its territories. However, states were allowed to opt out of the law, and some did. Daylight Saving Time Act of 1974In the 1970s, there was a severe energy crisis in the United States. Consequently, in 1974, the Daylight Saving Time Act was signed into law, establishing DST as year-round. Although the law was expected to save energy, it was widely unpopular. Because daylight occurred later, many people had to go to school and work in the dark. Parent associations were especially vocal about children waiting for school buses in the dark. Energy Policy Act of 2005The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended the Uniform Time Act of 1966 by abolishing the year-round DST and changing the start and end dates of DST in order to lengthen the previous daylight-saving time.
Congress retained the right to revert to the previous law should the change prove unpopular or if the energy savings would be insignificant. Notably, states were granted the right to opt out of observing DST and remain on standard time. However, they were not allowed to establish DST as year-round. This would require Congress to approve an amendment to the Uniform Time Act. All states but Hawaii and Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) observe DST.
U.S. territories not observing DST include Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Marianas. Does the Time Change Conserve Energy?A Department of Energy report in 2008 found that during the four weeks the U.S. extended DST after the 2005 law, there were savings of about 0.5 percent in electricity per day. Later studies have also shown that the energy savings were minimal. Bottom-line: There is not significant savings in electric consumption. Perhaps this would have once been the case, but it is no longer a big factor with modern technology. Health, Safety, and Other Effects of Time ChangeWhile a time change may seem minor to many folks, a full hour shift in the clock does have reverberations, almost a butterfly effect. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine maintains that Standard Time is better aligned with human circadian biology. Yet, many other studies favor staying on Daylight Saving Time:
But what about November when one can get an extra hour of sleep? The reality is that most people do not really get more sleep. And the disruption in the body’s daily sleep-wake cycle can affect sleep for several days. → See 5 tips to help your body to adjust to Daylight Saving Time. What About the Rest of the World?Frustrations with the DST clock changes are not only in the United States. In the case of the European Union, a poll was conducted in which 80% were in favor of eliminating any time change. As of today, The European Parliament has drafted a law to permanently remove DST in the European Union. It was planned for 2021 but negotiations have not started due to the still serious health and economic effects of Covid-19. Other countries have already ended seasonal clock changes, including Argentina (2009), Russia (2014), and Turkey (2016). What do you think about daylight saving time? Tell us in your comments below. Why don't we stay on daylight savings time all year?But since federal law does not currently allow year-round DST, the Sunshine Protection Act needed to be passed by the House and then the president. In June 2022, the U.S. House failed to pass the bill, which is officially stalled and scheduled to expire in December.
Is the US staying on daylight Savings time?Sept. 27, 2022, UPDATE: The start of autumn has brought with it renewed questions about daylight saving time. In short, nothing has changed for daylight saving time (DST) in 2022. Daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m local time on Nov. 6. People in states that observe it will move their clocks back one hour.
Are we losing an hour of sleep or gaining 2022?Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 2:00 A.M. On Saturday night, clocks are set forward one hour (i.e., losing one hour) to “spring forward.” Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 2:00 A.M. On Saturday night, clocks are set back one hour (i.e., gaining one hour) to “fall back.”
What is the point of daylight savings?The main purpose of Daylight Saving Time (called "Summer Time" in many places in the world) is to make better use of daylight. We change our clocks during the summer months to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. Countries have different change dates.
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