Most Americans consider themselves “great tippers,” but many fail to put their money where their mouth is, a new survey suggests.
Despite their self-proclaimed generosity, many fail to leave tips for bartenders, food delivery drivers, taxi drivers, hotel workers — or indeed anyone but waiters and waitresses in restaurants.
The scale of this “tipping gap” was revealed in the latest “Financial Etiquette” survey by the investment bank TD Ameritrade, and it’s bigger than you might imagine — unless you actually work in the service industry.
Four people in five, or 81%, of those surveyed gave themselves top ratings for tipping widely and generously.
But just 54% said they tipped food delivery drivers, like pizza guys.
Barely one in three leave a tip for parking attendants, or for the staff who clean their hotel rooms.
Fewer than 50% tip taxi drivers.
Only wait staff in restaurants get tipped widely, with 82% of those surveyed saying they leave a tip.
That may be because waiters and waitresses typically rely on tips much more than many other workers for a large part of their income. Federal law sets a $7.25 minimum wage for most workers, but just $2.13 an hour for those, such as waiters and waitresses, who typically get more than $30 a month in tips.
Around 12.3 million Americans work in restaurants, bars and other food service establishments. That’s up sharply from 9.3 million a decade ago.
Around three quarters of tippers leave more than 15%, which used to be the benchmark. Today the most common tip in restaurants is between 19% and 25%, the survey found.
When it comes to tipping, the generations, unsurprisingly, differ. Baby boomers are more likely to tip in almost every situation than members of Generation X, who are more likely to tip than millennials. Some 91% of Boomers say they tip wait staff in restaurants, for example, compared to 72% of millennials. And 55% of Boomers tip taxi drivers, compared to just 36% of millennials.
More than half of millennials, 52%, said they consider tipping optional, compared with 33% of boomers.
So far, that gels with other reports that millennials tip less, on average. But it masks two important facts.
Millennials are very polarized. While they’re less likely to tip overall, those who do are much more likely to tip generously. Around 18% say they typically tip more than 25%.
It also reflects economic circumstance. The question might be why boomers don’t tip even more, as they have nearly all the money. The Federal Reserve estimates boomers are sitting on $61 trillion in wealth. Generation X has barely a quarter of that. Millennials: Just $3 trillion. And boomers were able to start accumulating wealth much earlier than Gen Xers or millennials, thanks to the economic conditions when they were growing up.
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My black friends never leave tips, they don’t feel the need to engage in this “white mans” ritual. Tipping is a cultural norm for most folks, but there is usually no sign, or law, that imposes a tip, and when there is a sign, you better believe, they will make the staff work for it.
Personally, I always leave a tip in cash, even if paying by card, that way the server can actually get the tip, instead of waiting for management to figure out how to extract extra coin from the check.
I am a dependable tipper..1/5th to 1/4 of the bill unless absolutely negligent service.
I will say however that I don’t really believe in tipping– it is a strange thing almost unique to North America. ( many societies consider it insulting)
Just set prices accordingly so that store owners can pay higher wages to service people– solves the issue. Instead of a $20 price and $5 tip expected– just charge me $25 and pay your wait staff $5 more an hour or so.
I’ve heard some waitresses tell me that “the house” takes a % of all of their tips. I guess service staff can make really good wages at finer restaurants or very busy places ( My daughter worked at Ruth’s Chris one summer between semesters and was pulling in several hundred per shift.)
just charge me $25 and pay your wait staff $5 more an hour or so.
Good thing your daughter didn’t learn your math.
Go check out San Antonio Barbie! She can’t count either.
We play trivia at a nearby restaurant with a couple of progressive idiots. The husband loves to leave grossly excessive tips, regardless of the crappy service we sometimes get. I generally leave a tip that is commensurate with the quality, accuracy, speed, etc. One week, the server screwed up royally, and I left a very paltry tip while he left his usual overly large one. The next week, the same serve got my and my wife’s orders perfect, while screwing up his order once again. Hmmm. You get what you incentivize…..always.
My ex’s son worked as a waiter in college and had a ritual. At the beginning of the shift, he would give the hostess $10 and tell her he wanted tables with guys with dates and frat guys only. No groups of women and no minorities. At the end of the shift, he would giver her another $5, $10 or $20 depending on how lucrative the night went. He usually made $50 or more, even after tipping the hostess and bartender in the early 80’s.
He learned quickly to avoid minorities. Even black waitresses don’t want anything to do with black patrons.
He hated the camel jockey’s even more.
The Church of God in Christ used to have their annual meeting in Memphrica and the stories of the groups of them refusing to pay (for any number of reasons) were widespread. When they did pay, they never tipped and complained about everything. I think the city is better off since they went elsewhere.
I worked at a Waffle House as a second job. Your ex’s son was right. Blacks hardly ever left a decent tip, or any, and were, of course, the hardest to please. They complained about everything and anything. I hated serving them. Groups of women didn’t tip well at all and tended to stay forever so you couldn’t turn over the table and get a new customer, which meant a new tip. Guys with girls generally left excessive tips. High school students never left good tips, like after football games. Husbands and wives or families with kids usually left the prevailing percentage, but generally left more if the children made a mess. People that had been out drinking always left the best tips. I’ve seen from $10 to $100 from one person. And it happens multiple times, especially on weekends. If you’re on night shift, catch the ones coming in that have been drinking.
By the way, my brother, who was an alcoholic, was a prime example of excess tipping. After drinking at bars, he always went to the Waffle House afterwards. There was one particular waitress, named Theresa, that would corner him when he came in as soon as she saw him to make sure nobody had him sit in their section. No matter what she was doing, she dropped it and escorted him to her section. If her section was full, she brought him a cup of coffee and sat him down in a chair to wait for a table in her section, even though there were other booths and counter seats open. If it took a long time, she refilled his coffee and brought him an order of toast, which she paid for, to hold him until a seat was open in her section. When he left, he left anywhere from $20 to $100, depending on how drunk he was, which meant it was usually to the $25 to $100 mark, even if the order only amounted from $8 to $10. She herself told me that several years later after he stopped drinking.
I remember a printed business card once (might have been connected to Ron Paul’s campaign where he promoted the idea of NOT taxing tips at all), that said “Please accept this GIFT from me to you. It is NOT a tip, but rather a gift in advance of any service that you might perform. Please consider it a gift and NOT a tip.” The point was to present the money and the card to the waitperson in ADVANCE of the meal, so that it rightly could be recognized as a gift, not a tip. I handed out many in that fashion.
Dr. Paul definitely has a bright head on his shoulders. Never heard that one before.
A buddy of mine was a bartender at Bennigan’s. I’d sometimes hang out for an hour or two before closing and stay near the bar while he was working and have a beer or three. One evening one of the fellas ordered a tray of drinks–something like a half dozen mixed drinks–and gave my buddy the bartender $28, the exact amount of the tab. He looked the fella in the eye and said, “Yeah, that’s what I like–EXACT change.” Probably about 15 minutes of time in a very busy bar to make a 6-drink order and you hand the guy the exact amount and no tip? Yeah, the fellas are NOTORIOUSLY cheap.
Seattle. $15 an hour wage for wait staff. Horrible service as a result. Still expect 20%. Ha! Not likely.
Want to work for tips, work for tips. Want fifteen an hour plus 20% tips? Not from me.
Unsolicited advice for waitresses/waiters to ensure good tips. 1. Don’t ask me if I want more water. Or coffee. Either fill it or don’t, but do not make it a point of conversation. 2. Don’t ever ask me how my day is going. We don’t know one another and there are other pleasantries that make decent small talk. 3. Give careful attention to my wife. She works damn hard while I’m at work and I get few opportunities to spoil her as it is. If I’m coming to your restaurant and you want a good tip, you best spoil the shit outta Momma. 4. Be smart enough to make sure you include “tip money” in my change. Probably not going to give you a $20 tip for a $30 meal. Unless of course you’ve spoiled the living shit out of my beautiful wife. Out.
Fuck these people who hustle you for tips. How demeaning!
In Japan there is no tipping.
If you tip–it is considered demeaning.
They will follow you out and hand you your money back.
If you have a job that requires tips, you are a complete looser.
When I am questioned about a tip–here’s the tip I offer, “go get an education and get a better job.”
The a Japanese are some of the rudest people on earth when out and about, but enormously polite individually. Every culture is different. The Japanese do not tip? Great! Good for them. But the Americans do. Great! Good for them!
And by the way, some folks that work for tips make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. How is that for a tip.
Don’t be such a douchenozzle.