Right: American statesman, philosopher and "Founding Father" Benjamin Franklin is often credited with being the first public figure to promote DST. Franklin did suggest, probably satirically, while on a trip to Paris in 1784, the idea of people changing their sleep schedules to better enjoy the summer days and postulated, in addition, resources could be saved by such an act
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Arguments in favour of daylight saving in Australia
1. Daylight saving benefits the economy
One of the primary arguments offered in support of daylight saving in Australia, and elsewhere, is that it encourages economic activity, supporting jobs, profits, and growth.
The additional hour of effective daylight is believed to offer greater opportunities for people to shop, recreate and dine after work of an evening. This is seen as a major driver of economic growth The recreation industry, including the sporting industry, is seen as particularly benefitting from daylight saving. In the United States, the importance of daylight saving to the recreation industry has been recognised for many decades. In 1986, under President Ronald Reagan, the United States lengthened daylight saving from six to seven months a year. At Congressional hearings the year before, the golf industry had told members of Congress that the one additional month of daylight saving was 'worth $200 million in additional sales of golf clubs and greens fees.'
Daylight saving has also been claimed to benefit the retail industry more broadly. Michael Downing, author of the book 'Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight-Saving Time' has commented, 'The first and most persistent lobby for daylight saving in [the United States] was the Chamber of Commerce, because they understood that if their department stores were lit up, people would be tempted by them.' Downing's book highlights the role of the candy lobby, the barbeque lobby, and the golf ball lobby in seeking the introduction of daylight-saving time into the United States.
The negative impact of COVID lockdowns on many Australian businesses has increased the importance of daylight saving to the retail and hospitality industry. In an opinion piece published in The Guardian on September 28, 2021, Elias Visontay argued for an additional hour of daylight-saving time in New South Wales. He comments, 'More hours of sunlight later in the day means more time to enjoy the beaches after work, and more people spending time outdoors to visit businesses.' Visontay refers specially to a new outdoor dining scheme planned for Sydney which he claims would benefit from more daylight-saving time. He explains, 'There would be more foot traffic associated with this, meaning retail and outdoor entertainment could go on later. You could call it a tactic to woo some locals and interstate tourists from travelling internationally once the borders reopen.' He presents this as a means of helping businesses and customers recover from the deprivations of lockdowns. In Queensland, where there appears to be growing support for the state to join the rest of the east coast and adopt daylight saving time, emphasis is being placed on the economic advantages of this change. David Jones, of Wynham, Queensland, has posted an inline petition calling for the Gold Coast to adopt daylight savings again after 30 years. His petition attracted over 3,000 signatures in its first week.
The petition states, 'Queensland is economically and socially disadvantaged by not having daylight saving. This causes deep divisions within our community, as Queensland is out of sync with all other eastern states for six months of the year, resulting in enormous issues for many businesses across the state... Not having daylight saving in Queensland is estimated to cost the state's economy in excess of $4 billion annually, due to business inefficiencies, and missed tourism and retail opportunities. As a consequence, the state government also forgoes significant revenue - estimated to be $1 billion annually. Daylight saving should therefore be considered as a priority in supporting Queensland's economic recovery from the COVID-19 induced financial conditions.' A similar petition to the Queensland Premier, was posted by another Queensland resident, Daniel Lynch. At the time it closed it had attracted 12,642 signatures. Part of its argument was 'From an economic point of view, people are more likely to go out shopping and eating while it is daylight outside - which will help bolster our local economy.' The petition also notes the economic advantages of operating in the same time zone as the rest of the eastern states. 2. Daylight saving promotes public health
Another major argument offered in support of daylight saving is that it offers people a greater opportunity for exercise and so encourages public health.
A major cross-cultural study has found that daylight saving increases children's and adolescents' physical activity and has the potential to improve their health. In 2014, the wide-ranging study brought together 23,188 children aged 5-16 years from 15 studies in nine countries in the International Children's Accelerometry Database. The study found that longer evening daylight was associated with a small increase in daily physical activity among the children.
The lead author of the study, Anna Goodman, of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, stated, 'This study provides the strongest evidence to date that, in Europe and Australia, evening daylight plays a role in increasing physical activity in the late afternoon and early evening - the 'critical hours' for children's outdoor play. Introducing additional daylight savings measures would affect each and every child in the country, every day of the year, giving it a far greater reach than most other potential policy initiatives to improve public health.' Responding to these findings, Ashley Cooper, Professor of Physical Activity and Public Health at the University of Bristol, concluded, 'While the introduction of further daylight savings measures certainly wouldn't solve the problem of low physical activity, we believe it is a step in the right direction.' A 2014 United States study similarly concluded that daylight saving appears to promote exercise within the community and thus has the potential to benefit public health. The study stated 'Americans spend six minutes in front of the TV for every minute that they spend outdoors. This figure is alarming, especially in light of the health care costs imposed by obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. We find that DST has the potential to increase outdoor activity by 30 minutes and burns an additional 10 per cent of calories. This may have important policy implications.' The study further stated, 'During the DST extension period, the average American has the potential to reduce their Body Mass Index (BMI) by 0.91per cent... This translates into healthcare savings of $8.33 billion annually.'
A study published in Western Australia in 2010 looking at the impact of daylight saving found that 27 percent of respondents had increased their amount of physical activity while 22 percent had decreased it in the period during which Western Australia had trialled daylight saving between 2006 and 2009. A study of the impact of this policy change found a discernible increase in the activity levels of men and some other subgroups in the state. The findings suggest that the introduction of daylight saving in Western Australia resulted in almost half the population changing their physical activity patterns. These changes were evident both in terms of when people were physically active (in the morning before work, during the day, in the afternoon after work, later in the evening) and the number of sessions of physical activity they engaged in. The study found that for males, respondents 30-44 years of age, and those living in the metropolitan Perth area, daylight saving provided a greater opportunity to take advantage of additional after workhours of daylight for physical activity. The same positive effect was not observed with a majority of female respondents suggesting that morning exercise may suit them better. The overall effect was an increase of approximately 5 percent. The study's authors concluded, 'The results indicate that the introduction of a public policy that imposes a relatively modest compulsory change, such as daylight saving, can...have a powerful impact on patterns of physical activity...'
3. Daylight saving reduces traffic accidents and crime
Supporters of daylight saving argue that despite data showing that the immediate effect of daylight saving is an increase in motor vehicle accidents when daylight saving is first adopted each year, the long-term effect is a reduction in traffic accidents. It has been suggested that daylight saving also reduces the rate at which wildlife is killed on countries' roads. Supporters of daylight saving further note that crime rates fall during the months daylight saving is in place.
A range of studies have demonstrated that the longer-term impact of daylight saving is a reduction in road accidents. A United States study published in 1995 found that over the full period of daylight saving, setting clocks forward reduced traffic accidents. The data used in this study covered five years of fatal crashes, 1987 through 1991, across the United States. Its authors concluded 'The results of this study provide strong support for the proposition that daylight saving saves lives; extending it into the winter months could save additional lives.' Specifically, they suggested that had daylight saving been extended into the winter months during the five-year period studied, 'An estimated 901 fewer fatal crashes (727 involving pedestrians, 174 involving vehicle occupants) might have occurred.' As these figures indicate, the study suggests that daylight saving is particularly effective at protecting pedestrians.
In 2017 the British Medical Journal published a report on the impact of daylight saving on road accidents. The data analysed was drawn primarily from the United States. Other countries included were the United Kingdom, Canada, Finland, Israel, Ireland and Sweden. Years covered in the analyses ranged from 1973 to 2012. The review concluded, 'Findings from the short-term studies were inconsistent. The long-term findings suggested a positive effect of daylight-saving time. Though the writers of the review were reluctant to make recommendations based on their findings as they were wary of the impact of other variables, supporters of daylight-saving note that this study suggests daylight saving has a positive overall effect in reducing traffic accidents. A similar study published in 2020 looked at the impact of daylight savings on traffic accidents in Mexico. It concluded, 'The main finding is that setting the clocks forward an hour significantly lowers the total number of traffic accidents in the country's metropolitan areas.' Some studies have also suggested that daylight saving reduces the rate at which wildlife is killed on roads. An Australian study published in 2016 found that daylight saving seemed to have helped reduce the number of koalas killed on southeast Queensland roads.
Without supplying formal research figures, Tasmanian biological scientist, Dr Alistair Hobday, has noted that the number of wild animals killed on Tasmanian roads increases at the end of daylight saving. Kristy Gould, the acting director of ACT Parks and Conservation Service's urban reserves, has similarly noted that the number of wildlife killed on the Capital Territory's roads (including kangaroos) increases with the annual end of daylight saving. Further, it has been noted that daylight saving increases public safety by reducing the incidence of certain types of crime. Several studies have indicated that daylight appears to discourage some criminals. In 2015, The Review of Economics and Statistics published research findings which found fewer robberies are committed when daylight-saving begins in spring, with a particularly significant drop during that extra hour of sunlight in the time immediately after work. The authors state, 'Results show that daily cases of robbery, a violent and socially costly street crime, decrease by approximately 7 percent in the weeks after DST begins, with a 19 percent drop in the probability of any robbery occurring. A 27 percent decrease in the robbery rate during the sunset hours drives much of this result.' They identified the period immediately after work, as people travel home, as one where they are vulnerable to robbery and suggested greater visibility reduced this.
4. Daylight saving allows for more recreation
Supporters of daylight-saving time see it as a valuable opportunity to spend part of the afternoon and evening outdoors after parents are home from work and children have completed homework and other formal activities. In a world in which work and other commitments reduce discretionary time, many see daylight saving as offering some relief.
Many Queenslanders have expressed the desire to reintroduce daylight saving time so there is a greater opportunity to use time flexibly in the afternoon and evening. In 2021, The University of Queensland published a paper showing that a substantial majority of Queenslanders (60 percent) want a return to daylight saving.
Dr Thomas Sigler, Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Queensland University was the lead author of the research. He explained that many people live highly restricted lives and rarely, for example, can eat their evening meal out in the sun. He stated further that changing the time would benefit workers with fixed schedules, parents, dog owners wanting to walk their pets and anyone who wished to exercise after work. The research reflects the opinions published in many Queensland newspapers made by vox pop commentators giving their views on daylight saving. These include commentators expressing their satisfaction with the possibility of 'Getting home from work and still having time to do things. Mow your lawns, wash your car, while you're having a quiet beer and that leaves your weekend free to do what you want with no chores' and 'Much prefer to enjoy late evening twilight, mow the lawn, have a game of golf.' Another observed, 'Most tradies prefer daylight saving, as they work with the cool of the morning and are able to knock off when the sun is high at 3pm and still enjoy recreational sunlit time until 8pm.' Among the south-eastern Australian states, where daylight-saving has been in place since 1971, deliberate efforts are made to extend the opening hours of public amenities so that people are better able to enjoy the additional hour of daylight available to them. Adelaide's Botanic Gardens extend their opening time so that 'Over the warmer months, people can come to a botanic garden later in the day for all sorts of reasons - a picnic and show on a balmy night, a play in Wittunga's nature playspace, an after-work jog or taking photographs in those magical twilight hours'.
Similarly, New South Wales and Melbourne's major parks and picnic spots extend their opening times through daylight saving so that visitors have greater opportunity to recreate in them. There is a widespread intent to extend the 'quality of life' options available to people through daylight saving.This same attitude is evident among many of the supporters of daylight saving in the United States and Britain. David Prerau, author of 'Seize the Daylight', a history of the introduction of and response to daylight saving, has stressed the 'quality of life' advantages that daylight saving offers, including providing more time for outdoor activities. He has stated, referring to the United States, 'The real goal of daylight-saving time is to move the hours of human activity to make the best use of daylight.'
A study of the origin of Britain's daylight-saving legislation, published in September 2021, reveals similar motivations among those who first supported daylight saving. One of the main purposes of the original proposal was to make more recreational time available to working class people whose options were otherwise highly restricted by the demands of their labour. In Britain, in 1908, William Willett was the first to develop a workable scheme for implementing a seasonal time change which gained serious government interest. In his self-published pamphlet, 'The Waste of Daylight', three of his six purposes were 'To move the usual hours of work and leisure nearer to sunrise; to promote the greater use of daylight for recreative purposes of all kinds; and to benefit the physique, general health and welfare of all classes of the community.' 5. Most ill effects of daylight saving are short term and remediable
Supporters of daylight saving argue that many of the negative claims made about it refer to short-term which can be relatively easily overcome.
Critics of daylight saving tend to focus on the disorientation and sleeplessness that can result immediately after the moving of clocks forward or back when daylight saving begins and ends. The short-term health risks and the brief period of increased accident rates are used as a basis for condemning the entire operation of daylight. Its defenders argue that these are short-term problems that can be simply remedied.
This tendency to exaggerate the negative has been highlighted by many defenders of daylight saving. In an article published in Popular Mechanics on March 12, 2018, Dan Nosowitz argued that common criticisms of daylight saving were based on 'humans being impatient and all too willing to miscalculate the harm of short-term problems over subtle long-term benefits'. Nosowitz explains, 'Remember! DST is not the two days per year...we move our clocks around. DST is eight months long [in the United States and six months in the Australian states that adopt it]; those two days are the beginning and the end of DST. To focus on just those two days is ridiculous.' He quotes David Prerau, the author of Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight-Saving Time, who has also argued, 'There's a big difference between the [short-term] effects of the one-hour change from standard time to daylight saving time... to daylight saving time itself, which lasts eight months and offers many benefits.'
Defenders of daylight saving also claim that most of these short-term inconveniences can be easily avoided or overcome. On March 14, 2022, a C/Net wellness column offered four steps readers could take to avoid the short-term disorientation of the first days of daylight saving. These included 'In the days leading up to the start of DST, go to bed 15 to 20 minutes earlier each night to help prepare your body for the time change. Then, on Saturday, March 12, before the time change, set your clock ahead an hour and go to bed at your regular time' and 'Avoid alcohol, caffeine and unhealthy meals before bed, especially the Saturday before DST kicks in. These substances cause sleep disruptions that keep you from getting the quality 7 to 9 hours of sleep you need to maintain physical and mental health.'
There are also many measures that can be taken to help children adjust to daylight saving time. On September 30, 2019, The Conversation published advice from Julie Green, Principal Fellow at Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Green recommends that parents review their children's bedtime routines in the lead-up to daylight saving. She notes, 'Bedtime routines work best when the atmosphere is calm and positive. They include a bath, brushing teeth and quiet play - like reading with you - some quiet chat time, and relaxing music.' She also suggests that parents control their children's sleep environment: 'Darkening the room is an important cue to stimulate melatonin production...Trying to block out light - say, with thicker curtains - is a good strategy. Keeping the amount of light in the room consistent will also make for better sleep.'
Supporters of daylight further note that if the disadvantages associated with the two days of daylight-saving transitions each year are considered too great, a better solution would be to institute daylight saving all year round and so remove the transitional days altogether. This is the measure which the United States is in the process of adopting. In an article published on November 5, 2021, YouGovAmerica noted, 'Polled days before the annual ritual of ending Daylight Saving Time by changing their clocks, Americans say they would much rather have one time that lasts all year long, one that doesn't require changing all clocks twice a year. The latest Economist/YouGov Poll finds that nearly four times as many Americans would end the practice of setting clocks ahead in the spring and back again in the fall.'