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Tipping. Most people hardly think twice about it. But if a person takes a moment to consider the spare change they put in the tip jar or on the restaurant table, the story impacts almost everyone: the tippers and the tipped.
According to a 2014 Economic Policy Institute article, there are approximately 4.3 million tipped workers in the United States, and roughly 2.5 million are waiters and bartenders. These tipped employees are expected to earn the majority of their wage from tips, which are optional funds that customers choose to pay. Whereas tips were once thought of as an act of courtesy, a new debate has sparked across the country surrounding today’s so-called tipping culture. Customers feel more pressure than ever to pay additional funds, while tipped employees do what they can to live off an uncertain wage in an increasingly inflated economy.
AHS students responding to a survey shared a wide variety of opinions on tipping. The questions in said survey included topics like frequency of tipping, employment as a tipped employee, and more. Thirty-five people partook in the survey to offer their thoughts. For more information on the survey results and overall information on tipping in today’s society, check out the info box below.
The first question asked about tipping frequency, and the results were mainly positive, with 74.3 percent of survey respondents saying that they leave a tip “every time I can.” The next question, a multiple choice, asked about what kinds of workers should receive tips. An overwhelming 91.4 percent of respondents said that waiters, waitresses, and similar restaurant servers should receive tips. Another 64.9 percent said that public transportation drivers (e.g. bus or Uber drivers) should receive tips, 60 percent said that hotel and motel cleaning staff should receive tips, and 54.3 percent said that all workers in an establishment who offer courtesy services should receive tips. In particular, sophomore Eleanor Brummer’s response to the survey question was, “With the current situation of tips being seen as included in a worker’s pay, I believe they should be receiving tips, but ideally tips would be unnecessary because their actual wages would be enough and tips would not be expected in order to make a living.” With the current situation of tips being seen as included in a worker’s pay I believe they should be receiving tips, but ideally tips would be unnecessary because their actual wages would be enough and tips would not be expected in order to make a living. — Eleanor Brummer
Sophomore Dasia Baxter believes that the inconsistency of tips is not enough to sustain most livelihoods. Though she had never worked as a tipped employee, she said anyone offering courtesy services should receive tips. She said, “Workers really need to be tipped because they’re servicing you and they deserve it.” Along with the standard restaurant workers and servers, Baxter said that Disneyworld employees should also get tipped, comparing it to the way servers at buffet restaurants earn tips. Overall, she said that tips “should be an even split from regular income,” or tips should be extra money on top of a more liveable hourly wage.
An insider perspective is also vital to get the full picture. Senior Riley Wood has worked as a tipped employee at the Atlantic Golf & Country Club since September of 2023. “The more you get tipped, the better it reflects on your service,” Wood said. She said her job was worth the wage because of her positive experiences with customers. She earned an estimated $100 in tips each night.
Freshman Walker Gary said that in today’s economy, “Everything’s going up right now, those wages and however many hours they work would not be sustainable.” He said that the minimum wage for tipped employees nationwide should be raised. “There are a lot of people that don’t tip, and figure ‘oh they just have a minimum wage to take care of it,’ they don’t have to tip,” said Gary. “In case people don’t tip, [the workers] do have something to kind of rely on.”
The discussion on tipping culture will continue for years. Whether or not people agree with leaving their spare change at the restaurant table for a server to collect, maybe they’ll think twice about where that money goes and who needs it most.
How often do you leave a tip for restaurant workers/servers?
Multiple choice, 1 per respondent
35 responses
74.3% (26 respondents): Every time I can
14.3% (5 respondents): When I can afford it
8.6% (3 respondents): Once in a while
2.9% (1 respondent): Never
What type of worker should get tipped?
Checklist, multiple choices per respondent with an option of a short-answer "other"
35 responses
91.4% (32 respondents): Waiters/Waitresses/Servers
62.9% (22 respondents): Drivers (bus, Uber, etc)
60% (21 respondents): Hotel/motel cleaning staff
54.3% (19 respondents): All workers in an establishment who offer courtesy services
51.4% (18 respondents): Restaurant cooks
45.7% (16 respondents): Bellhops
34.3% (12 respondents): Counter personnel
2.9% (1 respondent): Other- "Anyone who doesn't make minimum wage. Also, most people probably aren't aware that servers tip out their bartenders, bar-backs, cooks, etc., and that these are tipped employees."
2.9% (1 respondent): Other- "With the current situation of tips being seen as included in a worker's pay I believe they should be receiving tips, but ideally tips would be unnecessary because their actual wages would be enough and tips would not be expected in order to make a living."
0% (0 respondents): No worker needs tips
Have you ever worked a job as a "tipped employee," where the majority of your income came from tips? The minimum wage for tipped employees is different from standard employees.
Multiple choice, 1 per respondent
35 responses
45.7% (16 respondents): No, I have never worked as a tipped employee
31.4% (11 respondents): Yes, I have worked as a tipped employee in the past
17.1% (6 respondents): Yes, I currently work as a tipped
employee
5.7% (2 respondents): No, I have never had a job
The U.S. Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees in 2023 lists and compares the wages across the nation and its surrounding territories, including minimum cash wage. Among other employment standards, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 established a minimum wage for all tipped employees at $2.13 an hour.
7 states and 1 U.S. territory require employers to pay tipped employees the full state minimum wage before tips, meaning that the minimum wage for tipped employees is the same as the minimum wage for other non-tipped employees.
28 states, 1 U.S. territory, and the District of Columbia require employers to pay tipped employees a minimum cash wage above the minimum cash wage required under the federal FLSA. Iowa is included in this category with a tipped employee’s minimum wage standing at $4.25 per hour.
15 states and 3 U.S. territories have in place a minimum cash wage that is the same as that required under the FLSA, meaning all the minimum wages for tipped employees is exactly $2.13.
The most agreed-upon origin of tipping culture came from medieval Europe and master-serf dynamics, according to the 7shifts blog. The servitude of the indentured would sometimes be met with tips from impressed visitors. This tipping of good servitude in Europe continued into the mid-1800’s, which some wealthy Americans brought back with them after travelling, much to the disliking of those who saw the practice as “un-American”.
The attitudes eventually shifted and tipping rooted itself in the American South after the Civil War. Restaurant Business Online.com further explains that service jobs like railway porters were often the first entry-level jobs that former slaves took on. Their wages were not always stable nor guaranteed, so they often relied on the gratuity of their customers in the form of tips.
MK Library in 2021 states that in the early 20th century, as more and more establishments switched to a tipping norm, the practice was not always met with positivity. Customer reactions when asked for tips ranged from uncomfortable to hostile. Some hotels and restaurants enacted anti-tipping rules, and several states even tried to ban the practice altogether. This anti-tip movement did not last forever, and tipping culture continues to be recognized in the states today.
