March 21, 2021
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the adjusted time schedule that is followed in most states during the warmer months of the year to increase the amount of natural sunlight during the typical waking hours of the day. It begins in the spring when clocks are set forward from standard time by one hour and ends in the fall when clocks are returned to standard time. The policy affects over 300 million Americans. Notable exceptions include Arizona, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Although DST was originally motivated by efforts to reduce energy costs, the economic impacts of DST have been difficult to evaluate.
How you feel about Daylight Saving Time probably depends on whether you are an early riser or a night owl. Obviously, changing the number on a clock does not actually add any time to our days. However, adding an hour of daylight onto the end of the day after most of us have gotten out of work can feel like a gift after a long winter of dark evenings. As the warmer spring weather arrives, nothing could be nicer than having more time in the evening to enjoy it.
