In the 108-year history of daylight saving time within the United States, the country has observed it 3 times all year long: during each of the 2 world wars and in 1973-74.
Now, after a 2022 try and reintroduce the policy failed, on July 14, 2026, the US House of Representatives Sunshine Protection Actwhich is able to put the country permanently on daylight saving time. Bipartisan bill passed. By a large margin, 308-117, President Donald Trump publicly supported the measure. Now it’ll be considered within the Senate.
With the exception of Arizona and Hawaii, which observe standard time year-round, the United States observes seasonal daylight saving time, moving the clocks forward one hour each March and moving them back each November.
About two-thirds of Americans would. Eliminate changing clocks twice a year.According to the 2026 survey, 21% who are usually not sure and 16% who need to turn their clocks backwards and forwards.
But the consequences transcend unusual discomfort. Researchers are discovering that “springing forward” each March is related to serious hostile health effects, including increased Heart attacks And Adolescent sleep deprivation. In contrast, the transition back to plain time just isn’t related to these health effects, as my co-authors and I noted in a Commentary of 2020.
I even have studied the professionals and cons of those twice yearly rituals for over five years Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics and Director of the Sleep Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. It has grow to be clear to me and plenty of of my colleagues that the change to sunlight saving time each spring affects health immediately after the clock change and for about eight months. Americans live on daylight saving time..
A powerful case for constant standard time
Americans are divided on whether or not they Prefer constant daylight savings time. or Constant standard time.
However, the 2 time shifts – similar to shocks – are usually not equal. Standard time most closely approximates natural light, with the sun at or near noon. In contrast, during daylight saving time from March to November, natural light is one hour later within the morning and one hour later within the evening as a result of the clock change resulting from daylight saving time.
Morning light is crucial to assist establish the body’s natural rhythm: it Wakes us up and improves alertness.. Morning light also boosts mood – light boxes that mimic natural light are really helpful for morning use. To treat seasonal affective disorder.
Elva Etienne/Moment via Getty Images
Although the precise the reason why light stimulates us and advantages our mood are usually not yet known, it could be as a result of the consequences of sunshine. Increased cortisol levelsa hormone that Modulates the stress response. or the effect of Light on the amygdalaAn element of the brain involved in emotions.
Teens may experience sleep deprivation as a result of school, sports, and social activities. For example, many Children start school around 8 am. or earlier. This signifies that during daylight savings time, many young people get up and go to high school at nighttime.
The body of evidence makes a great case for the adoption of uniform standard time throughout the country, as I testified in a. March 2022 Congressional hearing and discussed in a. Position statement For the Sleep Research Society. Also by the American Medical Association Demanded constant standard time..
The biggest advantage of daylight saving time is that it provides an additional hour of sunshine within the late afternoon or evening, depending on the time of 12 months, for sports, shopping or dining out. However, exposure to light during daylight savings time comes at a price for about eight months until dusk. This prolonged evening light delays the brain’s release of melatonin, the hormone that promotes sleepiness, leading to sleep disturbances and Causes us to sleep less overall..
Because it also causes puberty. Melatonin will be released later at nightThis signifies that teenagers have a delay within the natural signal that helps them sleep Especially susceptible to sleep problems By the diffused evening light. This change in melatonin during puberty lasts until our 20s.
The ‘West Bank’ effect
Geography may make a difference in how daylight saving time affects people. A study found that individuals living on the western side of the time zone, who get light within the early morning and later within the evening, Less sleep in comparison with their counterparts on the eastern fringe of the time zone.
The study found that West Bank residents have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and breast cancer, in addition to lower per capita income and better health care costs. Other research has found that Certain other cancers have higher rates. On the western fringe of the time zone.
Scientists imagine that these health problems result from a A combination of chronic sleep deprivation and “circadian misalignment“Circadian misalignment refers to the timing mismatch between our biological rhythms and the outside world. In other words, the timing of daily work, school, or sleep routines is based on the clock rather than the sunrise and sunset.”
A Brief History of Daylight Saving Time
Congress established Daylight Savings Time throughout the year. During the First and Second World Wars, and Again during the energy crisis Early 1970’s.
The idea was that having extra light after noon would save energy by reducing the necessity for electric lighting. The idea has been around ever since. Turned out to be largely wrongAs heating requirements may increase within the morning in winter, air con requirements may increase within the late afternoon in summer.
Another argument for daylight saving is that it reduces crime rates. More light at the end of the day. While this has proven true, the change is small, and the health effects appear to outweigh the advantages to society from lower crime rates.
After World War II, it fell to state governments to find out the beginning and end dates of daylight saving time. Because it caused many railroad scheduling and safety problems, nevertheless, Congress approved. Uniform Time Act 1966. The law set the nationwide dates for Daylight Savings Time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October. In 2007, Congress amended the Act. To expand the period during which daylight saving time is in effect from the second Sunday in March to the primary Sunday in November – the dates that remain in effect today.
The Uniform Time Act allows states and territories to opt out of daylight saving time. Arizona and Hawaii are on constant standard time, together with Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and American Samoa.
Several U.S. states have laws and resolutions into account to support consistent standard time, while many others have or have Consider permanent daylight savings time. In the midst of all these efforts, there was a rise in state-level initiatives in support of consistent standard time. From 15 percent in 2021 to 52 percent in 2026.
In March 2022, the US Senate The Sunshine Protection Act was passed. In an try and Make daylight saving time consistent. But the House couldn’t push this law. Even as the present version of the Sunshine Protection Act is being considered within the Senate, a bipartisan countermeasure, Sunshine Act for our childrenIntroduced within the House on July 9, would restore everlasting standard time because the nation’s default clock.
Now, it’s as much as lawmakers to choose whether to eliminate the time change entirely, and whether to go for everlasting standard or daylight saving time.