Summary
Tipping in U.S. restaurants has dropped to 19.3%, the lowest in six years, driven by frustration over rising menu prices and increased prompts for tips in non-traditional settings.
Only 38% of consumers tipped 20% or more in 2024, down from 56% in 2021, reflecting tighter budgets.
Diners are cutting back on outings, spending less, and tipping less. Some restaurants are adding service fees, further reducing tips.
Worker advocacy groups are pushing to eliminate the tipped-wage system, while the restaurant industry warns these shifts hurt business and employees.
Key cities like D.C. and Chicago are phasing in higher minimum wages for tipped workers.
Refusing to tip does nothing to convince an employer to pay more. It only further exploits an already exploited worker.
If you actually care don’t patronize businesses that have a tipped wage and lobby for a higher minimum wage.
Your advice would require people to drastically change their lives right now. Everything’s tipped.
Telling people to stop tipping requires almost nothing from them.
And yes, it will make things worse for the exploited workers - they’ll have to find new jobs if they’re not happy with their agreed-upon remuneration. But it’s this that will convince the employer to pay more - if they can’t attract staff they’ll have to offer more
Stopping tipping also puts the burden where it should be. You are the one saying your pay isn’t enough (and thus need tipping) - you fight for it yourself.
they will just have to exercise the rights they already have!
This is how you sound from your high horse.
I need you to understand you are also grandstanding a moral position and that there’s nothing inherently wrong with either of us doing that. Strawmanning another’s argument to try to give your position a weight it does not possess, however…
Think of it like this: Consumers are boycotting. You would doubtless agree that a consumer has the right to boycott, regardless of the negative effects it may have on the business or employees?
Boycotting would be not eating at restaurants that don’t pay a living wage. Not tipping is just punishing someone for providing you a service because you think it will somehow influence their employer.
So, to be clear, are you arguing against “punishing workers for things that arent their fault” or “refusing to tip will not have the intended effect”
Why are those mutually exclusive? You shouldn’t punish people for things that aren’t their fault and refusing to tip will not have the intended effect.
Also I’m not saying you don’t have the right to not tip. I’m saying that people who don’t tip are wrong not to
They’re not mutually exclusive, I didn’t mean to suggest they were. I mean, which is more important to your position, which should I focus my attention on? Which of the two stated ideas tends to convince you more?
Also, on the subject of boycott, I don’t think I quite gave the idea a fair shake. Let me try again, since this is pretty important to my position:
In the
1800searly 1900s women refused the social convention of wearing corsets. In the 50s the civil rights movement boycotted the social convention of “blacks in the back” if you will. Some today refuse to stand for the national anthem. Boycotts do not have to just be blanket refusals to eat at an establishment. They challenge conventions to seek social reform. For my part my “boycotting” tipping mostly involves refusing to tip anything that isn’t service related, and stopping going out to restaurants almost entirely.See, that actually does sound like the right way to do it, because you aren’t refusing to pay for a service being provided to you. Instead you’re refusing to use the service altogether, which more directly affects the business owner rather than worker. It still impacts the worker (due to lower overall business) but in a much less damaging way than simply not tipping.