Here's How Much Crime Goes Down After Daylight Savings

Daylight saving time is the source of a lot of hot takes. Whether you're for or against the practices of springing forward and falling back, the changing of clocks has repercussions that go far beyond losing or gaining an hour of sleep. The spring DST change means we lose an hour of sleep but gain daylight at the end of the day. With it, according to research, comes a lowered risk of crime, including home break-ins and burglaries. Why do thieves back down? As our conversations with criminologists has shown, many burglars 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, and DST has a significant impact on their choices. Studies such as this research from Jennifer Doleac and Nicholas Sanders have shown (even with other factors accounted for) the extra hour of daylight leads to a decrease in crimes such as robberies, which fall by as much as 27% duri ... Read full article.