As we draw closer to the end of daylight saving time, it’s time to prepare for the clocks to fall back by one hour, marking the return to standard time on November 2. This change will last a bit over four months, with daylight saving time set to make its comeback on March 8, 2026. However, there is growing sentiment that perhaps states should reconsider continuing this biannual tradition.

So, why do we adjust our clocks twice a year? During the winter, when the sun offers less daylight, standard time helps to capture more morning light. Naturally, this means sacrificing some afternoon sunshine, as the sun sets an hour earlier.

The amount of daylight varies depending on your location relative to the equator. In Anchorage, Alaska, for instance, daylight on December 21, 2025, will last for just 5 hours and 27 minutes, compared to a generous 19 hours and 21 minutes on June 20. Meanwhile, Seattle will experience 8 hours and 25 minutes of daylight on December 21, with 16 hours on June 20. At lower latitudes, such as Miami, the difference is less pronounced, with 10 hours and 31 minutes of daylight on December 21 and 13 hours and 45 minutes on June 20.

The Uniform Time Act of 1966 serves to standardize time across the United States. Given that travel by road, rail, or air is time-sensitive, the Department of Transportation oversees the implementation of this act, ensuring consistent time zone management nationwide.

Despite these regulations, the ritual of changing clocks is far from popular. A majority of Americans express a preference for maintaining daylight saving time throughout the year. With most people relying on smartphones and digital devices that automatically adjust, the physical act of changing the time is becoming less noticeable, yet the debate around its necessity continues.

Numerous states have passed legislation mandating permanent daylight saving time. Some of these laws are contingent on other states around them also doing the same. Several other states have pending legislation which, if passed, would result in a majority of states using daylight saving time year-round. 

Yet if clock changes are the enemy, the Uniform Time Act already permits all states to adopt standard time year-round. The problem is that states prefer daylight saving time. The only states that remain on standard time year-round are Arizona and Hawaii. Without a change in the Uniform Time Act, state laws adopting permanent daylight saving time remains stuck in legislative limbo.

Federal legislation to make daylight saving time permanent has been proposed several times. The Sunshine Protection Act of 2021-2022 never made it to the president’s desk. Most recently, the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025 has both House and Senate versions, so there is a chance for it to make it through the legislative gauntlet.   

What may seem odd is that, although almost every state wants daylight saving time to be permanent, it has been tried before. When implemented during the 1974 oil crisis to save energy, it was very poorly received. The primary criticism was that children were forced to commute to school in the morning (whether walking or driving) amid an extra hour of darkness.

Sleep researchers support permanent standard time, since it more closely aligns with people’s circadian rhythms. Such advice has been mostly ignored, given the legislative preference for daylight saving time. A compromise that would split the difference and create a permanent 30-minute time shift has also been proposed, but it has not gained traction.

Clock changes are therefore likely to continue. The good news is that nearly all states are consistent about changing twice a year. People may gripe about the inconvenience, yet this helps avoid the chaos that would be created for air travelers and others who cross into different states, were each individual state to choose its own time.

Of course, if the Uniform Time Act of 1966 had made daylight saving time the default, this issue likely would not even be discussed today. Given the current situation, to end twice-per-year clock changes and put the topic to bed once and for all, all states need to do is adopt standard time. That would make this Nov. 2 the last time clocks ever need to be changed again. 

Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., is a computer science professor in the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. As a data scientist, he uses his expertise in risk-based analytics to address problems in public policy.