When Is Daylight Saving Time 2024? Here's What You Need to Know

Are you ready to spring forward? This year, daylight saving time begins on Sunday, March 10th at 2 a.m. We spring forward, or lose an hour of sleep, the second Sunday of every March. (We get that hour back in November when daylight saving time ends.)

Wonder why we still do these wacky time changes twice a year, even though most Americans don't want it? A 2022 Monmouth poll found that 61% of Americans want to make daylight saving time (DST) or standard time permanent year-round. Here's why that hasn't happened as well as answers to other burning questions about daylight savings.

When to Turn Clocks Ahead and Back

Officially, clocks move forward at 2 a.m. on the day DST begins, which is March 10. Most computers, smartphones, and other tech do that automatically (if you're willing to stay up long enough to watch daylight savings come into effect). You'll likely have to switch the clocks manually on many of your less-smart appliances and clocks.

When Does DST End in 2024?

You'll get to enjoy sunnier evenings until Sunday, November 3 (at 2 a.m., to be exact). That's when the clocks fall back an hour, and you regain that hour of sleep you lost on March 10.

When Is DST in 2025?

Ready to plan ahead for next year's time changes? We'll spring forward on Sunday, March 9, and fall back on Sunday, November 2 next year.

How Did DST Start?

Rumor has it that daylight savings began as an attempt to help farmers, but it was first enacted as a temporary measure to conserve energy during World War I and II. It was repealed after each war ended, which earned it the nickname "war time," according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

DST returned as a permanent measure in 1966 as part of the Uniform Time Act, in which daylight savings started in April and ended in October. Since then, the start and end dates for DST have shifted, most recently in 2005 as part of the Energy Policy Act, resulting in daylight savings between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November.

What Is the Sunshine Protection Act?

The Sunshine Protection Act was a bill introduced in Congress in 2021 that would do away with moving the clocks backward and forward twice a year and make daylight savings the new permanent time nationwide. A bipartisan group of senators passed the bill on March 15, 2022, but it was never taken up or voted on by the House of Representatives.

The bill was reintroduced as the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023 to the new Congress that convened in January last year. Unfortunately, it got bogged down in a Senate committee and a House subcommittee, with uncertain prospects of it ever seeing the light of day (so to speak).

Perhaps the Sunshine Protection Act will re-emerge when a new Congress convenes in 2025. For it to become law, both houses have to vote on and approve it, and the President would then need to sign it into law. For now, plan on more semiannual clock-changing.

Pros and Cons of Making DST Permanent

Switching the clocks back and forth is annoying, yes, but it brings real negative impacts on society. Studies have found a correlation between the clock shifts and an increase in car crashes, heart attacks, workplace injuries, and depression in the weeks immediately after a switch between daylight savings and standard time. Experts theorize the danger may be due to the hour jump impacting people's sleep cycles.

Despite poll numbers heavily in favor of ending the clock-changing, there's no consensus on whether the permanent time should be daylight savings or standard time. Opponents argue that permanent standard time is more beneficial to health and human welfare than permanent DST because it's better aligned with our natural cycles.

Standard time proponents also contend that later sunrises caused by permanent daylight savings can lead to a more dangerous morning commute for workers and students. For example, in DST, the winter sun would rise after 8 a.m. in New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis.