In March, we spring forward, and in November, we fall back ... but why?
What Is Daylight Saving Time, and When Does the Time Change in 2025?
Updated on Feb. 11, 2025
We’ve all heard of daylight saving time, and every March, we know to set our clocks forward (while setting them back in November). But what is daylight saving time, exactly? It’s something we’ve been doing for years in the U.S. and in over 70 countries worldwide—but have you ever stopped to wonder why?
If you’re curious about what is daylight saving time and want to know the history behind it, future daylight saving time dates and more, you’re in the right place. Plus, we’ll reveal the two U.S. states that don’t observe daylight saving time.
So, let’s dive in and answer the question: What is daylight saving time?
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What is daylight saving time?
To start off, it’s daylight saving, not “savings,” as it is commonly called. Daylight saving time, also known as DST, is a practice where we advance the clocks by one hour on the second Sunday of March and set them back by one hour on the first Sunday of November, at 2 a.m. The goal of DST is to make better use of the varying daylight hours caused by the Earth tilting at different points during its orbit.
Since the Earth tilts at different times of the year, this gives us our Northern Hemisphere seasons (and reverses them in the Southern Hemisphere). It also contributes to the shortening and lengthening of daylight hours. By moving the clocks forward an hour in sun-rich spring, shortly before the spring equinox, the intention is that the majority of the day will be lived under full daylight hours, until the time changes again in fall.
When does daylight saving time start in 2025?
Daylight saving time always starts and ends at 2 a.m. in the United States. This year’s daylight saving time starts on Sunday, March 9, and ends on Sunday, Nov. 2.
Here are the future start and end dates for 2025 and beyond:
- 2025: Sunday, March 9, to Sunday, Nov. 2
- 2026: Sunday, March 8, to Sunday, Nov. 1
- 2027: Sunday, March 13, to Sunday, Nov. 7
- 2028: Sunday, March 12, to Sunday, Nov. 5
What is the opposite of daylight saving time?
The opposite of daylight saving time is Standard Time, also known as “ringer time” or simply “normal time.” This is the local time a region follows when daylight saving time isn’t in effect.
What time is sunrise during daylight saving time?
When daylight saving time kicks in, clocks jump forward an hour, making sunrise seem later than usual. But the actual time the sun rises depends on where you are and the season. In most places that observe daylight saving time, sunrise typically shifts closer to 7 a.m. or even later. According to Time and Date, when the clocks spring forward on March 9, 2025, “there will be more light in the evening and less light in the morning.” And when daylight saving time ends on Nov. 2, 2025, “there will be more light in the morning and less light in the evening.”
Why do we have daylight saving time?
There are several stories about the origins of the DST concept. You might have heard that the idea stemmed from Benjamin Franklin, but that’s not strictly true. He did write a satirical letter to The Journal of Paris (where he was living in 1784) suggesting that the city would save 64 million pounds of candle wax if only its citizens would rise with the sun, but he also included a recommendation that they get the people on schedule by firing cannons in every street as a citywide alarm clock. We’re grateful for Franklin’s other inventions but glad this particular one did not catch on.
It wasn’t until 1908 that Thunder Bay, Canada, became the first city to implement daylight saving time. Its purpose: to preserve daylight hours in the winter months. Then, in 1916, Germany and Austria became the first countries to implement DST, to save money on energy costs during World War I.
When did daylight saving time start in the United States?
While the World War I–era changes in Germany and Austria launched a daylight saving practice that was followed by most of Europe, the United States didn’t follow suit until March 19, 1918, when the Standard Time Act was signed into law. (This law also established our five time zones.) But the story doesn’t end there. After World War I, the DST federal law was repealed, before being resurrected during World War II with the intent of saving money on energy costs. After the war, DST was made optional, which led to absolute chaos when traveling. A 35-mile bus journey from Moundsville, West Virginia, to Steubenville, Ohio, meant going through seven different time changes!
Finally, in 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, standardizing DST for the six months from April to October. It was extended to seven months in 1986, and finally to eight months in 2005, leaving us with the March–November DST we have today—in 48 states, at least.
What U.S. states don’t do daylight saving time?
There are only two U.S. states that don’t observe daylight saving time: Hawaii and Arizona (except the Navajo Nation, in northeastern Arizona). Perhaps because both those states get plenty of sunshine year-round, they don’t feel the need to hoard it.
Do other countries practice daylight saving?
Only about a third of the world’s countries practice daylight saving time—most in Europe, with Egypt being the only African nation that observes it.
In the U.K. and other European countries, where daylight saving is known as “summer time,” DST begins on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. Another interesting fact? The only European countries that don’t currently follow the practice are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus, Iceland, Russia and Turkey.
Will daylight saving be eliminated in the United States?
As of now, no! However, Sen. Marco Rubio’s Sunshine Protection Act was reintroduced in March 2023. If enacted, the bill would end “falling back” in November, allowing us to keep a full year of DST. Progress has yet to be made on getting rid of daylight saving time, so as of now, it is here to stay.
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Sources:
- Time and Date: “Daylight Saving Time Statistics”
- U.S. Department of Defense: “Daylight Saving Time Once Known as ‘War Time'”
- Pew Research Center: “Most Countries Don’t Observe Daylight Saving Time”
- Press release from Sen. Marco Rubio: “Rubio Reintroduces Bill to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent”
- Time and Date: “Time Change 2025 in the United States”
