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Further implications
The question of whether countries should adopt daylight saving is likely to remain contested, at least until the medical judgement on its value is decisively in.
There are conflicting claims about daylight saving's impact on traffic safety, while arguments that it encourages exercise and is therefore a public health measure need to be weighed against evidence that it prompts heart attacks, strokes, and suicide. The economic benefits of daylight saving are less disputed; however, there is research that suggests that these benefits may often be more hoped for than real.
It used to be argued that daylight saving's disadvantages were largely the result of people making the difficult transition into and out of daylight-saving time in spring and autumn each year. This has led to daylight saving being adopted all-year round in some countries, as seems likely to be about to occur in the United States.
However, sleep scientists are increasingly arguing that while daylight saving's negative effects may be most acute during these transition periods, they persist throughout the whole time it is in place. These scientists claim that daylight saving seriously disrupts the body's circadian rhythms, having significant impacts on mental and physical health. If this is the case, entrenching daylight saving all year may make many problems worse rather than better.
Regarding the situation in the United States, it will be interesting to see if the Sunshine Protection Act passes the House of Representatives and results in daylight saving all year. If this does happen, it will then be interesting to see if this new arrangement is retained. Between 1973 and '75 the United States trialled this same plan. At the end of the two-year period, it was judged a failure and the country returned to daylight saving time for eight months and standard time for four. The rigours of getting up an hour early on cold, dark winter mornings were rejected by most citizens.
In Australia, it will be interesting to see if Queensland decides to join the other eastern states and adopt daylight saving. Currently, the Queensland premier was not even prepared to put the question to a referendum. On the heels of COVID, she may well have felt it was too divisive an issue to raise. The state is very split on the question, with the south and the Gold Coast appearing to favour daylight saving and the rural north and interior opposing it.
Long-term, the fate of daylight saving around the world is likely to depend on how compelling the medical evidence against it ultimately becomes. If it comes to be widely seen as a serious health risk, then it will move away from being an issue where all we are weighing up is perceived economic advantage on the one hand against disputed lifestyle benefits on the other.