Will Daylight Saving Time Be Permanent in 2023?
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Daylight saving time has been in the news recently, and if you haven’t been following exactly what’s going on, it can be easy to get confused. Why might the government be changing daylight saving time? And what does that mean for Americans? Read on below to find out.
The short answer
On March 15, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent in 2023. The bipartisan bill is called the “Sunshine Protection Act,” and it will now be sent to the House of Representatives, and if they sign off on it it will then go to President Biden for the final decision.
This isn’t the first time we’ve switched it
Daylight saving time was invented in Germany in 1916 to conserve fuel, and it quickly spread throughout Europe. The U.S. adopted daylight saving time in 1918, but it was unpopular with the general population and was repealed after World War I.
In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted a year-round daylight saving time, which was repealed again in 1945. Daylight saving time as we know it was put into practice following the Uniform Time Act in 1966.
What’s the reasoning behind this decision?
Daylight saving time means there’s more daylight in the evening, and this is the primary reason behind the bill. One hope with this measure is that it will lead to economic stimulation, as when light lasts later into the day, people are more inclined to go out and spend money on food, shopping, and entertainment.
Legislators also hope that this change will help with the child obesity rate. This benefit might seem unexpected, but having more hours of daylight after school could be a great way to encourage children to get outside and play, spending less time on technology.
Why didn’t they do this earlier?
While daylight saving time certainly presents some benefits, critics of the policy say that it may have adverse effects as well. First of all, many health experts say that extending daylight later into the evening could impact the body’s natural circadian rhythm.
The human body naturally wants to wake up and go down to sleep with the sun, and assuming a typical workday stays 9-5, this means people will have to start waking up with an hour less of sun than they previously did.
How will the change work?
This change, if approved by the House and President Biden, will take place in November of 2023. This extended period gives businesses, especially airlines and radio and television broadcasters, the time they need to adjust their calendars, systems, and any future plans that could be affected by the time change.
This bill will only affect the U.S., so the time differences between American states and other countries will change. Additionally, the states of Hawaii and New Mexico don’t participate in daylight saving time, so they’ll now be out of sync with the other states year-round instead of just during the winter.