Daylight Savings Time: To Keep or Not to Keep?

There are moments in time that we all stop and ask, WHY?!  

Why is k-pop so catchy?  Why does spaghetti never get old?  Why does ice cream taste so much better during a blizzard!  Some of these mysteries of life will never really have an answer.  But we accept it and then we move on.

However, there are other curiosities that are left flapping about in the breeze like a ripped sail struggling to catch air to push the ship forward.  Round and round we go, questioning the validity of the inane choices that drive our lives and that we are not entirely in control of.   come up.  The one that has cropped up more and more as of late is Daylight Savings Time.

(Image From:  https://www.almanac.com/content/when-daylight-saving-time)

A good chunk of those questions are along the line of:  Do we need to do this anymore, and why do we do it at all?!  

Welcome back readers!  Prepare yourself for another Kaie ramble where we dive into stormy waters to salvage information about the origins of DST (Daylight Savings Time), who practices it, who doesn’t… and should we do away with it or not?

Are you one of the people who wants to see it end?  Or are you indifferent?  Either way, let’s begin our tale by learning a bit about why it even came to be!

(Image from:  https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/02/even-ben-franklin-used-fake-news/)

Picture it!  Paris, 1784.  Ben Franklin took to his quill and ink to weave a tale that would tickle the proverbial funny bone of the masses.  What was it that he suggested in his essay titled, “An Economical Project”, he spoke of the need to change the sleeping schedules of Parisians in order to reap the benefits of natural light as opposed to existing through their waking hours with candlelight (5).

Now technically, Mr. Franklin did not create the idea of DST however it is interesting to note that, though his essay was satirical in nature, he touched on the idea of changing a societies operating hours in order to benefit from sunlight instead of relying on artificial light (5).

The true push for adjusting the clocks didn’t come for over one hundred years by a New Zealand entomologist, George Hudson.

(Image from:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hudson_%28entomologist%29)

In 1895, Mr. Hudson called for a two hour fall back schedule during the summer so that he could dedicate these new daylight hours to his personal passion:  insects (6).  When he argued the proposition in front of the Wellington Philosophical Society in the years 1895 and 1898, the reasons for why adjusting the clocks back by two hours did not involve his own personal interests.  To the countless individuals who were required to work inside, far from the touch of the sun’s rays, he offered the idea that they would be able to work earlier and therefore complete their work day with more hours of sunlight ahead of them (6). 

Unfortunately for our dear entomologist, the idea never gained enough traction to be turned into law at that time, even if he did have support for it in later years (6).  There was another effort given to a change in hour in the early 1900’s, however it too would fail to pass legislation.

So what was the situation that finally encouraged a country to accept changing the time in order to conserve daylight hours?  

The answer:  War.

(Image From:  https://taraross.substack.com/p/tdih-permanent-dst)

In 1916 Germany, smack dab in the middle of the first World War, the country decided to adopt DST for summer hours in order to limit the use of fuel .  Not long after other countries adopted the same measures including but not limited to:  Australia, Great Britain and the United States ((2)(6)).  New Zealand eventually accepted DST into law in 1927, which Mr. Hudson was still alive to see (6).

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 Image From: https://stock.adobe.com/ca/search?k=myth)

Daylight Savings Time was for Farmers.

According to Agamerica.com, Many farmers  were not in favor of daylight savings time.  Remember, that not all farmers deal with daytime hours and crops are going to absorb those sweet sweet sunrays regardless of a made up hour that helps organize the human masses.  Not only that, but cows and other animals are not dictated by our notion of time.  So when it is time to milk, feed, or tend to a creature, the farmer cannot tell them, “Oh not now… the clock moved back an hour!  Just wait.”  Even if that would be nice.

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Let’s continue shall we…

When WWI ended, so too did Daylight Savings Time, but it was not the last we would see of it.  Not too long after the end of the first World War came the second and with it, the return of conservation efforts and the necessary time change.  The U.S. brought back the change in hours in 1942 and repealed them at the end of the war (4).  

One could surmise that the ‘damage’ was done after years worth of experiencing the time shift, which is why we still have it today.  For the United States, Congress decided in 1966 that they would pass the Uniform Time Act, which included the idea of daylight savings time which was to last from the last Sunday in April until the last Sunday in October (U.S. Department of Defense).  There have been changes here and there to that Act with adjustments when we change the hours, but that is all.  For nearly sixty years, our routines have been dictated by an idea that was born into existence, by a joke, over 200 years ago.

Which begs the question:  Is DST necessary?

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(Image From: https://www.statista.com/chart/24473/countries-changing-clock-daylight-savings/?srsltid=AfmBOopziflTORzHbicAA8hQ2bia_ncqBB4eQM1l4fCgg-a_2hKBnS_f)

The vast majority of North America and Europe still practice DST, while a good portion of countries abolished it and some never practiced it to begin with.  Certain areas around the tropics do not practice DST due to the fact that with the tilt of the world’s axis and the changing of seasons, the regions around the equator do not go through significant changes in daylight hours.   

Knowing this still doesn’t answer the question of whether or not DST is necessary.  Maybe there is no one answer either, but many countries are contemplating if they want to continue with it.  For purposes of not going over word count, we will focus on North America primarily  If you live in another region, I strongly encourage you to research a bit about the impact of DST for you!

For now, lets look at the question: How does DST impact the North American population?

Found on the Encyclopaedia Britannica (3), were a list of pros and cons regarding DST that have been researched and studied from various entities.

PROS	CONS
Pro 1: Daylight Saving Time’s (DST) longer daylight hours promote safety. Read More.	Con 1: Daylight Saving Time (DST) is bad for your health. Read More.
Pro 2: DST is good for the economy. Read More.	Con 2: DST drops productivity. Read More.
Pro 3: DST promotes active lifestyles. Read More.	Con 3: DST is expensive. Read More.

(Image from Encyclopaedia Britannica (3))

Even when comparing the pros and cons to one another it seems as though they cancel one another out or the cons are more of a concern than the benefits of the pros.  Let’s take a look at Pro 1 and Con 1.

Pro 1 has shown that DST promotes safety for drivers while simultaneously creating a safer environment for individuals enjoying the outdoors, as well as encouraging the crime rates to lower because of longer daylight hours.  All of these situations are ideal for the public overall and something that we can all agree is beneficial to our society (3). 

Then, Con 1 is presented, stating that DST is bad for your health, namely for sleep cycles.  However other issues are mentioned that are alarming.  In the spring, heart attacks, automobile accidents and workplace incidents occur for the first few days following the change of hour (3).  In the fall, there are more reports of cluster headaches (3).  These situations are all rather significant because they impact not only our physical health but our mental health as well.  Which invites the question: Does the pro outweigh the con?

Maybe or maybe not, but there are still other positive and negative situations to discuss.  The other two pros mentioned explain how DST positively impacts our economy through sales in multiple industries and that the third keeps people outside and being more active(3).  These sound great!  We all want a more active society, and a flourishing economy is good for everyone, right?  

Maybe.  Let’s continue on with Con 2 and 3.  These two don’t just focus on a lack of productivity and loss of money, they touch once more on our physical and mental health.  Yes, productivity decreases but quality of life is also impacted, people become more prone to illness and fatigue is prominent.  All of these factors can impact not only a person, but the society as a whole (3).  In Con 3, money is lost due to the time it takes to adjust the clocks, and the airline business is hit hard because of adjusting times with countries that do not observe DST (3).  All in all, this may not sound too important, but the expense doesn’t end with personal wages or the airlines.  Large cities in the U.S. have to deal with economic losses “due to workplace injuries, traffic accidents, heart attacks and strokes,” and a loss of productivity (3).

This is just a handful of information on one website, while there is a whole world of opinions and facts out there to explore.  There are many other studies to find and information to read!  My goal here is to give you a jumping off point.  (Seriously!  Go look into it!  Please go do your own research and find out where you stand!)

The matter at hand is, do we need to continue with daylight savings time or not?  We can ask ourselves whether the pros outweigh the cons.    Are there other measures that we can implement to maintain the positive outcomes of DST while getting rid of the need to change the time so that negative aspects are reduced or eliminated altogether?  

Where do we go from here?

(Image From:  https://www.printmag.com/article/history-of-daylight-savings-time-propaganda/)

Should we or shouldn’t we keep Daylight Savings Time?  In North America alone, the conversation is growing louder on whether or not DST should continue, while some areas have done away with it all together.

According to our good friend Wiki, In 2022, Mexico decided to stop DST and passed legislation ending the changing of hours, in which 71% of people were in favor of (7).

In the United States, it’s a little more complicated as the country would require congress to pass a law that gets rid of the Uniform Time Act of 1966 that established DST (8).  Currently Hawaii and Arizona passed legislation to observe permanent standard time, while the other 48 states follow DST.  However, according to USAFacts Team, there are 20 states encouraging the removal of DST (8).  

In Canada, The Yukon and Saskatchewan no longer observe DST and there are portions of British Columbia, Nunavut, Ontario and Quebec that do not change the clocks either (9).  Currently, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec are looking at removing DST throughout their provinces but are holding back legislation due to ties with the United States (9).  

What do you think?  Is DST relevant anymore?  Should it be done away with for good?

What impacts, negative or positive, do you think would happen if we no longer follow it?

Maybe I have left you with more questions, or your mind was already made up one way or another and this merely solidified your position.  Whatever your thoughts are, I would love to hear about them!  Thank you, my dear readers, for traipsing through this topic with me!  Until next time…

Keep safe and sound as we come up to the holidays, and don’t forget to question everything!  

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1. “Daylight Saving Time & U.S. Farming.” AgAmerica, 15 Nov. 2019, https://agamerica.com/blog/myth-vs-fact-daylight-saving-time-farming/ 

2. “Daylight Saving Time.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 16 Oct. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Daylight-Saving-Time.
3. “Daylight Saving Time Debate.” ProCon.org, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 16 Oct. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/procon/Daylight-Saving-Time-debate.
4. “Daylight Saving Time: Once Known as ‘War Time.’” U.S. Department of Defense, 1 Mar. 2019, https://www.war.gov/News/Feature-Stories/story/Article/1779177/daylight-saving-time-once-known-as-war-time/
5. “Did Ben Franklin Invent Daylight Saving Time?” The Franklin Institute, 16 Oct. 2025, https://fi.edu/en/science-and-education/benjamin-franklin/daylight-savings-tim

6. Vincent, James. “How First Suggestions of Daylight Savings Time Was Inspired by Insects.” BBC Future BBC, 8 Mar. 2024, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240308-how-first-suggestions-of-daylight-savings-time-was-inspired-by-insects
7. “Daylight Saving Time in Mexico.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Nov. 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_in_Mexico#:~:text=Except%20for%20the%20border%20municipalities,Sunday’s%20shift%20from
8. USAFacts Team. “Why Does the US Have Daylight Saving Time?” USAFacts, 26 Feb. 2025, https://usafacts.org/articles/why-does-daylight-saving-time-exist/.
9. “Daylight Saving Time in Canada.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Nov. 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time_in_Canada#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20Yukon%20abandoned%20seasonal,percent%20of%20the%20entire%20year