t the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many Americans vowed to offset the negative impact on service-industry workers by becoming better tippers. But new data shows that Americans have not only failed to follow through — they are worse tippers now than before Covid hit.
While 73% of Americans say they always tip at a sit-down restaurant, that’s down from 77% in 2019, according to a new demographically-weighted. And although 57% of Americans always tip food delivery people, that’s down from 63% in 2019. Only about four in 10 Americans always tip a taxi or rideshare driver, down from one in two before the pandemic.
The lone exception to the trend: Roughly two-thirds of Americans say they always tip their hairstylist or barber, up three points since 2019. “While more than a third of Americans pledged to become better tippers in 2020 and 2021, it seems that sentiment has worn off,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com. “Inflation is cutting into consumers’ purchasing power and a tight labor market has left many service industry businesses understaffed and struggling to provide top-notch customer experiences.”
I am poor man
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Perhaps it’s because the average consumer is running on fumes due to the extraordinary leadership if the country. It’s not all due to the situation with Russia. Home Insurnace didn’t go up because Putin invaded Ukraine. Inflation is most likely substantially higher than 8.6%.
If restaurants paid their employees a decent salary there would be no need for tips.
Maybe people are running low on $ and are concerned about the future. Can you blame them?
I tip at Starbucks, but I notice most don’t. Maybe it’s time to raise wages and stop tipping?
Maybe it’s finally time to pay service workers appropriately?