Yes, you’ll get a shot at an extra hour’s sleep. But even with that, it might be one of the most dreaded weekends on the American calendar: the end of daylight saving time.
Only 12% of U.S. adults favor the current system of daylight saving time, which has people in most states changing the clocks twice a year, according to a new AP-NORC poll, while 47% are opposed and 40% are neutral.
Around the country, the clocks will go back one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday (respective local times) to mark the return to standard time and more daylight in the mornings. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that for many Americans, it’s an unwelcome change — and if forced to choose, most would prefer to keep that extra hour of daylight in the evening.
Pranava Jayanti is among those who strongly oppose the switch. The 31-year-old Los Angeles resident grew up in India, where the clocks don’t change. When he came to the United States to graduate school, some relatives made sure he knew about it.
He thought he was prepared, “but when it actually happened, it still took me by surprise,” Jayanti said, because of how quickly it got dark in the latter half of the day.
There have been calls for the U.S. to stop making the twice-yearly changes, including a piece of legislation that stalled after the Senate passed it in 2022. Among those urging that the country stick to one time for the entire year are the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, as well as President Donald Trump, who issued a social media post about it earlier this year.
Permanent daylight saving (not daylight savings, as many people say colloquially) would be unpopular with a significant chunk of people, though, the poll found — particularly those who prefer mornings.
Changing the clocks is unpopular
The United States first started using the time shift over a century ago, during World War I, then again in World War II. Congress passed a law in 1966 that allowed states to decide whether they would have it or not, but required their choices to be uniform across their territories. All states except Arizona and Hawaii make the time shifts; Those two states remain on standard time year-round.
Time changes are also undertaken in some other parts of the world, like Canada and Europe, but not in others, like Asia. Europe and North America changed the clocks a week apart, resulting in a short period where the time difference between the regions is an hour shorter than the rest of the year.
But although about half of U.S. adults are opposed to the switch — including 27% who are “strongly” opposed — many don’t care one way or another. That’s particularly true of adults under 30, with 51% saying they neither favor nor oppose the practice. Those over 30 are more likely to be opposed to it, with about half saying they dislike the twice-a-year switching of clocks.
If they had to choose one time for the country to use, more than half of adults — 56% – prefer making daylight saving time permanent, with less light in the morning and more light in the evening. About 4 in 10 prefer standard time, with more light in the morning and less in the evening.
Those who consider themselves “night people” are much more partial to permanent daylight saving time: 61% of them say this would be their choice.
“Morning people” were just about evenly split, with 49% of them preferring permanent daylight saving time, and 50% wanting permanent standard time.
