- Americans say tipping is expected in more and more places, according to a fresh Pew report.
- While many Americans tip at restaurants, most do not do so in coffee shops.
- Even at sit-down restaurants, most Americans tip 15% or less.
Was the great tipping debate is raging in the US as the number of tablets increases preloaded with tips causes some Americans they roll their eyes.
A fresh report from the Pew Research Center examines how much Americans tip and when they feel obligated to add a little something extra for service workers. A total of 72% of the 11,945 Americans surveyed from Aug. 7 to 23 said tips are expected in more places than they were five years ago, and many of them are irritated by the thought of automated tip suggestions.
Conversations about whether to tipand how much they have risen recently, especially as high inflation has taken its toll on buyers’ wallets. In response, many Americans have rejected tipping less often. Although tip levels may simply return to normal after increased generosity seen during the pandemicIt’s also possible that some customers have been discouraged from tipping because they’re asked to do so more often – even in places like self-service checkout line.
So where do Americans tip? Not in coffee shops, and especially not in fast-casual restaurants. Here are the places where Americans always and often tip.
At coffee shops, 27% of Americans said they sometimes tip — while a quarter said they never tip. Meanwhile, 17% said they sometimes tip at fast-casual restaurants, while 45% never tip.
Even at sit-down restaurants, most Americans — 57% — tip 15% or less, according to Pew. Only 22% tip 20%, and 15% tip the most common. Even that varies by age, with 61% of adults 65 and older saying they would tip 15% or less. Meanwhile, 54% of adults under 30 said they would tip similarly.
That aligns with generational differences among tippers: 38% of Americans ages 18 to 29 said they view tipping more as an obligation than a choice, while only 24% of Americans ages 65 and older said the same.
That could be a drain on service workers’ wallets. Some companies have become more dependent on pandemic era tipswhen Americans were willing to open their wallets and tip services that might not have received a tip before. That means that instead of raising wages, companies salary increases in outsourcing to customers.
It’s not just waiters and baristas who rely on customer tips. In recent months, Insider spoke with several Uber and Lyft drivers who said bad tipping customer made it harder to earn money. Sixty-one percent of Americans surveyed told Pew they always or often tip a taxi or ride-share driver.
When tipping It wasn’t always common in the US – And many Americans today are not fans — the practice isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. Instead, some lawmakers are calling for policies like ending minimum wage with tipwhich they believe would make restaurant industry workers less dependent on tips from customers.
