People are a little bit stingier in barber chairs and Ubers than they were just a few years ago.
The shares of adults who say they always tip their hair stylists, servers at sit-down restaurants and food delivery people have each fallen 8 percentage points since 2021, according to a Bankrate survey released Wednesday. That rate slipped 7 percentage points for taxi and ride-hail drivers over the same period.
Three years ago, the economy was reopening from the pandemic and inflation was higher than it is now, but so was concern for front-line workers.
At the time, three-quarters of consumers reported always tipping restaurant servers, but today just two-thirds do. Despite modest upticks since last year, barely more than half of people now count themselves reliable tippers of hairdressers (55%) and food delivery drivers (51%), while only 41% say the same when it comes to ordering a ride.
The survey reflects Americans’ growing ease bypassing ubiquitous tipping prompts, from coffeeshops to airport terminals in the post-Covid economy, especially as sticker prices have risen. While consumer spending has held remarkably steady, many households are feeling the squeeze from persistent inflation and tightening their belts accordingly. Some of that newfound caution may be factoring into when, where and how much people tip.
You aren’t fighting the man by not tipping (in the traditional areas), you’re screwing your fellow worker.
You’re just being cheap.
Don’t forget that it’s the employer paying the shitty wage that is the one screwing over the worker. This is exactly what those employers want, to be able to pay shitty wages and have the blame shifted to someone else.
I’m not defending the tipping culture, but it’s baked into the idea of how much these people are paid by their employer. By not tipping, you’re just screwing them, not sticking it to the man. It’s just an attempt to justify being cheap.
Again you’re blaming the consumer but totally overlook the employer being cheap and paying shitty wages. You’re playing right into their hand.
It’s currently part of our culture and an expectation. We all agree that it should go away, but as of now, regardless of whether the boss is being cheap, if you don’t tip you’re being cheap and only screwing the worker, as the boss still makes their money.
I really really don’t agree with this. They have already been screwed by their boss, you are choosing whether to Bail the boss out or not. The dynamic will never change by continuing your stance, you’ll just keep on bailing out the rich guys.
There’s an expectation that you tip, right or wrong. If you don’t tip, you’re just screwing them, not the boss.
If you want to change it, screwing the worker is not the best path.
I didn’t say you would be screwing the boss. What you are doing by tipping is letting them away with it. I understand the expectation, I think it shouldn’t exist, I think it’s wrong. I also refuse to take a job like that which I believe IS the way to change it.
Going and not tipping is still letting them “get away with it” because they still make their money. The person who makes less is the worker who served you the food. The owner still gets their money. If you want to hit the boss in the pocket book, you don’t go to places that rely on tipping their workers. That’s how you put pressure on the owner.
You’re absolutely “fighting the man”. You not tipping puts pressure on the owner class to pay a decent living wage to their employees or risk losing their workforce over time. Just need to all continue to hold on this trend that the article describes and keep that arrow going down. At the same time, these workers will be motivated to unionize and get the worth of their labor with current union momentum that’s on the increase.
“Not fighting the man”… What a hollow statement?
No, you’ve got it wrong. By going and not tipping, “the man” is still making their money. It’s the server you’re putting pressure on to leave that job and find something better. Sure, at some point, this might rise up and screw “the man” but the reality is that it requires stomping on a bunch of workers for your own benefit. You’re basically telling a server, who might even like tipping because it benefits them, that they have to do the work to make the change you want. It’s selfish, just like not tipping.
If you want to stick it to those owners who don’t pay fair wages to their workers, don’t patronize their establishments.
Don’t have the energy for everything that needs response in that, maybe reread it a couple times and respond to yourself
Then just leave? What’s the point of a comment like this? Do you not realize how childish it makes you look?
Childish is you being completely oblivious to any nuance in my previous post and not responding to it substantively when you choose to respond. You’re a child in a room full of adults having a conversation and you’re punching kneecaps and screaming down there, feisty little guy!
You hold a smartphone with the collective knowledge of humanity in your hand, and you think that because you have quick access to that intelligence, it means you are intelligent. But you have no idea what you’re actually talking about.
You don’t have the energy to make a point, but you do have the energy to throw around empty insults. Good for you, really have your priorities straight.
This only works in an idealized perfect scenario which doesn’t exist. You not tipping only hurts the delivery driver and doesn’t touch the man whatsoever. Furthermore companies are only required to pay 7.25 federally unless state has other laws, which many don’t. So best case scenario you are bumping people up to 7.25 which isn’t even close to a living wage and wouldn’t do a thing for vehicle maintenance and gas.
You are welcome to believe that you are sticking to the man not tipping but the reality is that you are fucking over hard working people short term. Even if everyone unilateral agreed to stop tipping it would take years for the system to fully catch up and again you would be fucking them over during those years.
It will always be like this… until it isn’t. Your argument is tired. “The moment” eventually has to happen to force change. You take things like the 40 hour work week and weekends for granted, but people died in labor demonstrations and factory disasters to secure that comfort for us all. I pay my federal/state taxes and local levies, I support social safety net programs. These tips will not be the difference between someone eating or not, but it may be enough for them to force the ruling class to cede just a little more profit to the workers (or pressure the state to act against business of those social safety net programs are being more heavily utilized).
Your argument isn’t grounded in reality which is my argument, propose a plan that will actually have impact past screwing service workers.
I’m not sure what your point is with labor demonstrations, those people got change though very bloody(not voluntarily bloody) organized protests, not tipping isn’t even close to an accurate comparison. A little more profit to the working class is a crumlet and just doesn’t do shit for service workers, let’s focus on taking the pie back which again not tipping isn’t doing.