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Two thirds of Swedes want to ditch seasonal time changes: poll

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Two thirds of Swedes want to ditch seasonal time changes: poll
Moving the clocks twice a year isn't popular among the Swedish public. Photo: Erik Johansen/TT

This Sunday the clocks will move forward by one hour in Sweden, but it seems the practice has little support in the present day as a new polls shows that two thirds of Swedes are in favour of scrapping the shift to and from daylight saving time.

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The matter has started to gather force as of late after the Swedish government in February said it is not against ending the practice if there is broad support in the country or the Riksdag.

There is growing debate over whether moving clocks forward in the spring and back in the autumn is really beneficial, and the neighbouring Finnish government is now pushing the issue at EU level, lobbying the union to abolish the time change.

READ ALSO: Sweden agrees to consider ditching daylight saving time

Along with showing majority support among the Swedish population for ditching the time switch, the new poll by Ipsos for newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) also asked Swedes to pick which time they would like to stick with permanently.

More than a third (37 percent) said they'd prefer to have summer time throughout the year, while slightly less than a third (29 percent) would choose standard time, otherwise known as winter time.

According to Stockholm University stress psychologist Arne Lowden however, keeping standard time throughout the year would actually be better for public health.

"Losing an hour's sleep by moving the clock forward increases fatigue. That increases the risk for traffic and workplace accidents, even if the effects are very small and almost insignificant," Lowden told DN.

READ ALSO: Swedish politicians wage war on time changes

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