Daylight Saving Time Benefits You and Your Home in a Surprising Way

Daylight saving time is near -- March 9 if your state participates -- and we prepare to spring forward with all the clock adjusting that requires. While we may lose an hour of sleep, entering DST does come with advantages, like an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day -- and a lower risk of burglaries. Why do the thieves back down? As our work with criminologists has shown, many burglars actually prefer to strike homes in the middle of the day, when they're more confident the house will be empty. But plenty of burglars still like to wait for the cover of darkness to sneak around. But daylight savings time has a significant impact on their choices. Studies like this research from Jennifer L. Doleac and Nicholas J. Sanders have shown, even with other factors accounted for, the extra hour of daylight leads to a decrease in crimes such as robberies. That also applies to reported crimes such as murder and rape, which fall significantly as the evening brightens. While researchers no ... Read full article.