Could daylight saving be hurting the economy?
Daylight Saving began in 2021 on November 6th and sunset was 5:47 PM in New York.
The following day it becomes 4:46 PM when it begins.
The shortest day will be the solstice, which has sunset at 4:32 PM in NY.
Also, just for comparison, the sunrise.
Sunrise on November 6th was 7:33 AM.
That drops 6:34 AM on November 7th.
Sunrise also is 7:17 AM in NY on the 21st.
Where this gets bad for the economy.
The average American leaves for work at 7:30 AM according to the department of labor.
The time they finish work is about 3:30 PM.
School days also end normally at 3 PM.
If Daylight Saving didn’t happen, at the worst day of the year, sunrise would happen at 8:17, costing people only about 45 minutes of sunlight in the morning from their normal schedule.
They’d however gain an extra hour on the shortest day of the year, where the average American doubles their daylight time leaving work, while they only have a slight gain in the morning.
Where this gets into the economy.
Fewer people go out when it’s dark.
Tons of studies show that Americans in areas where the sunsets later have more active economies during those hours and in areas it gets dark before 5 PM, restaurant activity and general commerce all fall slightly.
And of course, there’s other issues with daylight saving on a whole.
Fatal car accidents rise 6% the week after daylight saving.
Heart attacks rise 24%.
Workplace accidents rise 5.7% the two weeks after.
This seems like a heavily outdated policy for farmers that doesn’t seem needed today and doesn’t work in the modern world.
For industries that might actually need to get up later in the day, the answer is just change the work schedule for that.
Everyone else shouldn’t have to suffer.