On the morning of March 9th, we all advanced our clocks an hour ahead for Daylight Savings Time. But have you ever wondered why Daylight Savings Time exists? How did it come to be, and why do we set our clocks forward? Through this blog, we’re diving deep into the history behind Daylight Savings Time and analyzing who really benefits from it. Here is why Daylight Savings Time exists!

What is Daylight Savings Time?

Daylight Savings Time involved advancing our clocks an hour later to make use of the daylight available in the summer. It allows the darkness to come later in the night.

Did you know that only 34% of the world’s countries celebrate and implement Daylight Savings Time?

The areas that do NOT celebrate DST include…

Yukon, Saskatchewan, Nunavut, Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec
Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo nation) and Hawaii
Most Australian states
Territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana islands, Guam, and more!

Why does Daylight Savings Time Exist?

How did Daylight Savings Time come to be?

Daylight Savings Time was created as a “wartime effort” during World War 1 in 1918. This was in order to conserve fuel and power. If there was more daylight, they could burn less fuel, which ultimately helped them in the end.

It was introduced with the Standard Time Act in 1918.

Who really benefits from Daylight Savings Time?

There have been many studies done that have assessed the efficiency of Daylight Savings Time in order to see who really benefits. Let’s take a look…

Retailers

Retailers benefit from Daylight Savings become more people feel motivated to shop after work. There have been studies shown that prove retailers gain more from Daylight Savings Time due to their longer evening.

Energy Departments

Daylight Savings Time helps preserve energy, in most cases. However, this is still a debatable topic. Some argue that Daylight Savings Time does not preserve energy consumption because a household uses much more energy that can be used with the one extra hour. Some argue that it does help with energy consumption because people are more inclined to do activities outside of the house.

Farmers???

There have been many myths that Daylight Savings was implemented to benefit farmers. This is FALSE! Farmers actually opposed DST in 1918. This is because they were losing an hour in the morning of daylight.

Did you learn something new about Daylight Savings Time? Let us know in the comments. Have a great week, friends!!! :)

Why Daylight Savings Time Exists