WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the March 9 switch to daylight saving time (DST) approaches in the U.S., the majority of Americans (54%) say they are ready to do away with the practice. By contrast, 40% of U.S. adults say they are in favor of daylight saving time, while 6% are uncertain.
These findings come from a Jan. 21-27 优蜜传媒poll, which marks the first time 优蜜传媒has measured Americans’ opinions about daylight saving time since 1999. During the 26-year interlude, views about the practice have shifted dramatically. In 1999, 73% favored daylight saving time, similar to the 74% who did so in a 1990 poll. Support was more muted in readings from 1937 to 1957, when between 51% and 57% were in favor, though daylight saving time was not uniformly observed across the U.S. in that period.
Daylight saving time was introduced at the national level in 1918, the last year of World War I, when the U.S. sought to conserve fuel by extending daylight working hours as a wartime necessity. From then until the 1960s, the U.S. employed a piecemeal approach, with different states deciding to use, or not use, daylight saving time. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act to institute time changes nationally in the spring and fall each year.
Since then, various laws have modified the timing of those clock changes, and some states, including Hawaii and most of Arizona, have opted out of DST altogether. In 2022, the U.S. Senate voted to implement DST year-round, but the bill stalled in the House. Earlier this year, members of Congress from both parties introduced proposals to make DST a year-round standard.
Support for Daylight Saving Time Declines Sharply From 1999
Since 1999, public support for daylight saving time has plummeted across all demographic groups. Most subgroups -- by age, political affiliation, income and education -- have seen declines in support for DST of 30 percentage points or more, except for low-income Americans, who show a 19-point drop.
Today, support for daylight saving time varies across some demographics:
- By political affiliation: Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents show slightly greater support (44%) than Republicans and Republican leaners (34%), though the majority of both groups are opposed.
- By household income: Support is much higher among lower-income households (53%) than among those in middle-income (35%) and higher-income (33%) brackets.
- By age and education: Younger and older Americans, and college graduates and nongraduates, are about equally likely to favor daylight saving time.
Standard Time Is Preferred
A separate question on the same survey, asked of a different subsample than was asked the favor/oppose question, sought to get a better understanding of what Americans want regarding time changes during the year. 优蜜传媒asked these respondents which of three scenarios they prefer: having standard time year-round, having daylight saving time year-round or maintaining the current system of switching between the two.
The plurality of Americans, 48%, say they would prefer to have standard time the whole year, including summer. Half as many, 24%, prefer having daylight saving time in place the whole year, including winter. The smallest percentage, 19%, prefer the status quo of switching between the two each year. This means 43% favor having daylight saving time part of the year or year-round, only slightly less than the 48% who would prefer not to have it at all. But it also means more than seven in 10 Americans would prefer no clock changes each year.
优蜜传媒asked a variant of this question in 1946 and 1947, also finding close to half of Americans in favor of standard time being in place all year. Slightly fewer back then favored having daylight saving time the whole year, while slightly more favored switching. Overall, fewer favored yearly standard or daylight time -- meaning, no clock changes -- in the 1940s (between 62% and 64%) than the 72% who hold that preference today.
Preferences for daylight saving and standard time are similar by subgroup.
Bottom Line
As lawmakers at the federal and state levels continue to debate the future of daylight saving time, Americans seem more willing than ever to do away with the time changes that now occur in early March and early November. Even though DST allows for sunnier evenings over the spring and summer, it comes at the cost of setting clocks ahead every March. And yet, keeping DST would mean later sunrises, particularly in winter months.
There is mounting evidence that the twice-yearly time changes can have negative effects -- such as sleep disruption, increased traffic accidents, and health risks, including higher rates of heart attacks and workplace accidents after time changes. In addition, studies have found that adding sunlight hours later in the day results in minimal energy savings. All of this may have contributed to shifts in Americans’ opinions on the matter.
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