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Sleep and circadian-health experts favor ending the twice-yearly clock change with permanent standard time, not permanent daylight saving time. Standard time keeps civil time closer to the sun, preserves earlier winter morning light and avoids the abrupt sleep loss that follows the spring “forward” transition. Permanent daylight saving time would provide later summer sunsets but push winter sunrise—and many commutes and school starts—later into the morning.
What health experts recommend
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends abolishing seasonal clock changes and adopting year-round standard time. Its 2023 position statement is titled “Permanent standard time is the optimal choice for health and safety.” In 2024, the American Medical Association quoted the AASM calling for the United States to “eliminate seasonal time changes in favor of a national, fixed, year-round time.”
Jennifer Martin, who was AASM president in 2023, summarized the distinction: “It is time to stop changing our clocks in the spring and fall, but making daylight saving time permanent is the wrong choice.” The recommendation is based on how timed light controls the body clock, as well as evidence of short-term safety and health problems after clock changes.
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Morning light anchors the body clock
The circadian system responds strongly to when light reaches the eyes. Morning light helps advance or anchor the body clock, while later evening light and a delayed sunrise can push sleep timing later. Karin Johnson, a professor of neurology at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, told the Associated Press that “morning light is what’s really critical for setting our circadian rhythms each day.”
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Standard time generally places clock time closer to solar time, so winter mornings receive sunlight earlier than they would under permanent daylight saving time. That alignment makes it easier for many people to wake, work and attend school at biologically appropriate times.
The “forward” transition removes sleep abruptly
When clocks move forward in spring, the social schedule advances one hour immediately even though the body clock does not. People commonly lose sleep that night and may remain out of alignment for several days. AASM describes this mismatch as “social jet lag” and notes reported associations with obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and depression.
The strongest evidence concerns acute transition effects rather than a definitive estimate of the lifelong impact of one permanent system. A Mayo Clinic study cited in a U.S. congressional hearing record found an 18.7% increase in adverse medical events related to human error during the week after the spring transition. The study was conducted in 2021 and reported in hearing materials in 2022. Research and clinical reports also describe more missed appointments, emergency visits, sleep loss and safety concerns around the spring change.
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Fall’s extra hour does not erase the disruption
The autumn change appears easier for many people because clocks move back and can add an hour of sleep. It still changes the relationship between social schedules and daylight, however, so ending both annual transitions avoids repeatedly resetting the body clock.
Permanent standard time versus permanent daylight saving time
The choice is not simply “more daylight” versus “less daylight.” It determines whether daylight is available at the beginning or end of the day, especially in winter.
| Consideration | Permanent standard time | Permanent daylight saving time |
|---|---|---|
| Circadian alignment | Closer to solar time; earlier morning light better anchors the body clock. | Clock time is shifted later relative to the sun, delaying morning light. |
| Winter sunrise | Earlier sunrise than under permanent daylight saving time. | Sunrise could occur after 8 a.m. across much of the United States and after 9 a.m. in some northern states. |
| Summer evening light | Sunset occurs an hour earlier than under daylight saving time. | Retains later evening light for recreation and commerce. |
| Sleep and safety | Avoids the spring sleep loss while preserving morning light. | Avoids clock changes but creates darker winter commutes and school starts in many northern locations. |
| Evidence | Supported by the AASM’s solar-alignment and health-and-safety rationale. | Long-term health effects of making daylight saving time permanent are less directly studied. |
| U.S. legal feasibility | Would require ending the federal seasonal daylight-saving requirement. | States cannot implement it on their own; Congress must authorize permanent daylight saving time. |
Kenneth Wright, professor and director of the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory at the University of Colorado, told the Associated Press that “based on the evidence for our health and well-being and safety, the best option for us as a country now is to choose to go to permanent standard time.”
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What permanent daylight saving time would mean in winter
Later sunsets are attractive to people who want light after work, but the trade-off is a later sunrise. In northern locations, a permanent one-hour shift could leave children waiting for buses, workers commuting and families starting the day in darkness. Delayed morning light can also push sleep schedules later, making early school and work start times harder for people whose circadian rhythms already run late.
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What the evidence does—and does not—show
- The clearest signal is the short-term harm around the spring “forward” transition: lost sleep, circadian disruption, human-error-related medical events and safety concerns.
- Standard time has the stronger biological rationale because its clock is closer to solar time and supplies earlier winter morning light.
- Associations between social jet lag and conditions such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic problems, obesity and depression do not prove that a specific permanent clock policy causes each condition.
- Permanent daylight saving time has not been studied as extensively over the long term, so claims that it would produce a precise health benefit are not established.
Why the United States has not simply ended the changes
Federal law controls the options
The Uniform Time Act framework keeps seasonal daylight saving time in place for most states. Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight saving time. A state may pass a law supporting permanent daylight saving time, but that law is conditional: Congress must change federal law before it can take effect.
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State momentum is not the same as implementation
At least 19 states had passed laws seeking permanent daylight saving time if Congress authorizes it, according to an Associated Press report in 2025. The figure shows broad interest in ending clock changes, but it does not mean those states have switched clocks permanently.
Congress has tried permanent daylight saving time before
The Senate passed a permanent-daylight-saving bill in 2022, while a corresponding House measure did not advance. The country also adopted permanent daylight saving time during the 1973–74 energy crisis. After one winter of dark mornings and public backlash, Congress restored winter standard time in 1974. That experience is one reason health experts are cautious about repeating the daylight-saving option nationwide.
What Americans actually support
Public opinion favors ending the twice-yearly change, but it does not settle which fixed time to choose. An AASM survey of 2,005 U.S. adults, reported by the AMA in 2024, found that 64% supported eliminating seasonal clock changes. In the same survey, 27% named public health and safety as the top factor lawmakers should consider. Support for a fixed schedule therefore coexists with disagreement over whether the permanent setting should be standard time or daylight saving time.
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How to reduce disruption if the clocks still change
Until federal policy changes, clinicians cited by the AMA suggest shifting your schedule gradually:
- For four days before the transition, move bedtime about 15 minutes earlier for the spring change (or 15 minutes later before the autumn change).
- Shift meals and exercise by the same approximately 15-minute increment so the whole daily routine moves together.
- Seek outdoor morning light after waking, particularly after the spring transition, to help reinforce the desired timing.
- Protect the lost hour by keeping the bedroom dark, quiet and cool and by avoiding unnecessary late-night activity.
These steps can reduce the shock of a one-hour change; they do not resolve the underlying policy trade-off between morning and evening daylight.
The bottom line on standard time versus daylight saving time
For health and safety, the cited sleep organizations and experts favor permanent standard time. It ends the recurring sleep shock, keeps winter mornings lighter and better matches the sun’s timing. Permanent daylight saving time would preserve later summer evenings, but its delayed winter sunrises and weaker long-term evidence make it the less-supported choice. Ending clock changes still requires Congress to change the federal framework, even where states have already passed conditional laws.
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