There are pros and cons to daylight savings time, but because we live in a more advanced modern age, the original purpose of daylight savings isn’t present anymore, making it less critical. Health risks, the tampering of people’s circadian rhythms, lower crime rates, and increased spending are some of the few pros and cons of daylight savings time.
The original purpose of daylight savings time was to conserve energy. In 1918, it was implemented as the “Standard Time Act,” which saved fuel and resources while providing people with an extra hour of sunlight to support our war efforts and help our soldiers and allies.
However, researchers have recently found that daylight savings time isn’t much energy anymore. The National Institutes PBS says that the one hour of sleep you lose can lead to many harmful factors, including increased risks of cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and other unhealthy diseases or risks.
Another con of daylight savings time is that it interferes with people’s circadian rhythms. A circadian rhythm is essentially an “internal clock that helps regulate hormones, metabolism, and emotional responses,” according to Jireh Deng from the Los Angeles Times.
Circadian rhythms are influenced by sunlight, so the extra hour of exposure can lead to issues with sleep and emotions. Where there are cons, there are pros, and daylight savings time is a great example of that.
While the cons may seem more important or apparent to some people, that doesn’t mean the pros aren’t there. When daylight savings time rolls around, people are exposed to more sunlight; while a great many people enjoy being in the sun, criminals don’t. Criminologists have done studies and found that when daylight savings time is in play, crime rates decrease due to the extra hour of sunlight.
Banking companies have also researched and found that one extra hour leads to 0.9% increased spending on credit cards and 3.5% less when people aren’t exposed to it. This spending increase can help reinforce or boost the economy by getting more money flowing throughout it.
In the end, daylight savings time has both positive and negative effects, but for various reasons, it’s not as important now as it was when it was created.
