Think about the last time you went to a restaurant. Did you tip? How much? Was your waiter making a real hourly wage, or was she relying on your tip to make up the majority of her pay? Was she taking home her entire tip, or tipping out to other restaurant staff?
You likely don’t know the answer to all of these questions, and probably didn’t do a deep analysis of how the amount you chose to tip factored into your waiter’s take-home pay that week, income that year, or total lifetime savings. However, in 43 American states, it is the consumer, not the employer, who decides and funds service workers’ pay.
There are 4.4 million workers in the United States who rely on tips for a living. They work in restaurants, bars, hotels, casinos, taxicabs, and beauty salons. Disproportionately women and people of color, tipped workers earn wages significantly below averages in comparable industries. They are less likely to receive healthcare and more likely to experience sexual harassment. Critics of a full minimum wage for tipped workers argue this is the wrong time for legislation like the Raise the Wage act. They claim that a wage increase will hurt restaurants already struggling to keep doors open amid the pandemic. Advocates, on the other hand, insist that in an industry marked by decades of low wages and poor benefits in the richest country in the world, the time for change is long past.
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