Episode 37

Is there a wrong side of the time zone?

Daylight Savings Time gets a bad rap every year when it's time to turn the clocks forward, but DST has a friend no one warned you about...

Daylight Savings Time gets a bad rap every year when it’s time to turn the clocks forward - it’s bad for your health, it’s bad for the economy…but DST has a friend no one warned you about: sunset time. Later sunsets mean later bedtimes, which leads to “social jetlag” - a desynchronization between your biological clock and your social obligations. Social jetlag could have a huge effect on your well-being and your wallet, so researchers decided to look at the perfect laboratory for comparing its effects. Right along time zone boundaries, neighboring counties experience sunset at completely different times. This week, Charlie brings in a paper where chronobiologists compare health and incomes on both sides of the time zone border, with some very alarming results.

Check out the paper in the Journal of Health Economics here and the Washington Post article here.

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