America’s love-hate relationship with tipping

If you’ve been out to eat recently, you may have noticed a change when the check arrived. Some local restaurants are temporarily scrapping the traditional tip line in favor of an automatic 20% service fee — hoping to protect workers’ take-home pay during an influx of tourists during the World Cup.

Many foreign travelers might not be aware of just how much American restaurant workers rely on tips. Though many restaurants pay higher – the minimum wage in Pennsylvania has been $7.25 since 2009, and the tipped minimum wage is just a fraction of that.

While tourists may be caught off guard, locals might just be relieved not to be asked to tip even more. Since the pandemic and the rise of tablet-based checkout systems, many have reported feeling increasing pressure to tip more and more in the service sector and beyond. 

So on this edition of Studio 2, we’re talking about tipping culture in America: why consumers are sick of it and why many workers can’t get by without it.

Guests: 

• Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley
• Cait Lamberton, professor of marketing at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania