The US House of Representatives approved this week a bill that seeks to maintain daylight saving time throughout the year in the country, a measure that must now pass the Senate's examination and that would open the door to significant changes in the daily lives of Americans.

The text endorsed by the Lower House - which had broad bipartisan support - proposes that the US stop turning its clocks back one hour in the fall and forward another hour in the spring, as has been the case for decades in most of the territory.

The change would mean that there would be more hours of daylight in the afternoon during winter, but also later sunrises at that time of year in a society that mostly rises early.

However, some territories, such as Hawaii and most of Arizona, do not currently apply the seasonal change and maintain the same schedule all year round, so the federal reform at the same time forces us to review the fit of these particular cases.

The impact on the economy and morale

Defenders, especially congressmen from Florida, maintain that having more light at the end of the day would favor sectors such as tourism, hospitality, commerce, leisure or outdoor sports, in addition to putting an end to a time change that they consider "unnecessary."

For their part, representatives of agricultural states are reticent because the delay in dawn would complicate the activity of farmers.

Other legislators warn that millions of boys and girls would still go to school at night for part of the winter, with possible effects on road safety and performance.

What does the evidence say?

Although the public debate is still open, numerous studies indicate that eliminating seasonal time changes reduces the risk of heart attacks, traffic accidents and metabolic problems.

However, chronobiology experts at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine warn that permanently setting daylight saving time, with later sunrises, alters circadian rhythms and increases morning sleepiness.

Therefore, if you opt for a single schedule, they recommend maintaining the standard time - which we enter when the clocks go back in autumn - to ensure more natural light early in the day.

The next step

The project now goes to the Senate and will then need the signature of President Donald Trump, but it would not be the first time that an initiative of this type has been blocked: in 2022 the opposite happened, when the Upper House gave the green light to a similar proposal that ultimately did not prosper in the House of Representatives.

The debate is also still open in the European Union. The European Parliament backed in 2019 ending seasonal time changes and letting each state choose a permanent time, but the proposal remains blocked in the Council due to the lack of consensus between countries.

Are there precedents?

The United States already experimented with permanent daylight saving time in the 1970s under President Richard Nixon to address the energy crisis, but the measure was revoked months later due to discontent generated by very late sunrises during the winter.