I’ve been following your stories about tipping, and I’m thrilled to say I’ve made the decision to completely stop tipping, except when dining at a restaurant. Fast food, coffee shops, etc.? No longer. As a tradesman, I’ve had to pay for my tools, vehicles, and years of training while earning next to nothing. I refuse tips when they’re offered, as I have a job. Jobs with low pay are just the economy’s way of telling you to get a better job. The more places that expect tips, the less I feel like tipping. Is it just me?
All Tipped Out
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“Wait staff generally rely on tips to supplement their income, and pay the rent.”
MarketWatch illustration
Dear Tipped Out,
You’re wrong in one key point: It’s a mistake to blame workers for low-wage jobs, especially given that so many of the lowest paid jobs involve the most labor-intensive, backbreaking work — in factories, food preparation, the service industry, leisure and hospitality, and education and health services. As millions of people realized during the pandemic, these jobs form the backbone of the U.S. economy. Not all workers in low-wage jobs ask for tips, and to tar them all with that brush does millions of people a disservice.
There are approximately 30 million prime-age, low-wage workers making less than $16.98 an hour in the U.S., according to a recent report from WorkRise. “In total, low-wage workers make up more than a quarter of the total labor force,” the report says. “These jobs are often the most essential yet experience the least security.”
“A person working full-time at that threshold makes about $35,000 a year,” WorkRise reports. “In America’s three largest cities, the average yearly rent for a one-bedroom apartment comprises at least half of that amount.” Then factor in utilities, groceries and any other necessities, and it’s clear that these workers don’t have it easy. Fewer than a quarter of low-wage workers have a work-based pension plan, compared with 47% of higher-wage workers, and only 57% have an employee-sponsored healthcare plan, versus 88% of higher earners.
Conflating two issues
More than 70% of Americans say they are expected to tip more often than they used to tip, but only one-third of people say they know when they should tip and how much, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. The mistake is to take that frustration and blame the workers for low wages instead of, say, large corporations for not treating their workers better or not creating opportunities for them to improve their skills and climb the corporate ladder.