Higher sticker prices have made some people stingier in recent years, a new Bankrate survey finds. “They’re no longer appreciating service industry workers as much.”

People are a little bit stingier in barber chairs and Ubers than they were just a few years ago.

The shares of adults who say they always tip their hair stylists, servers at sit-down restaurants and food delivery people have each fallen 8 percentage points since 2021, according to a Bankrate survey released Wednesday. That rate slipped 7 percentage points for taxi and ride-hail drivers over the same period.

Three years ago, the economy was reopening from the pandemic and inflation was higher than it is now, but so was concern for front-line workers.

At the time, three-quarters of consumers reported always tipping restaurant servers, but today just two-thirds do. Despite modest upticks since last year, barely more than half of people now count themselves reliable tippers of hairdressers (55%) and food delivery drivers (51%), while only 41% say the same when it comes to ordering a ride.

The survey reflects Americans’ growing ease bypassing ubiquitous tipping prompts, from coffeeshops to airport terminals in the post-Covid economy, especially as sticker prices have risen. While consumer spending has held remarkably steady, many households are feeling the squeeze from persistent inflation and tightening their belts accordingly. Some of that newfound caution may be factoring into when, where and how much people tip.

  • @[email protected]English
    -1•7 months ago

    You’re absolutely “fighting the man”. You not tipping puts pressure on the owner class to pay a decent living wage to their employees or risk losing their workforce over time.

    No, you’ve got it wrong. By going and not tipping, “the man” is still making their money. It’s the server you’re putting pressure on to leave that job and find something better. Sure, at some point, this might rise up and screw “the man” but the reality is that it requires stomping on a bunch of workers for your own benefit. You’re basically telling a server, who might even like tipping because it benefits them, that they have to do the work to make the change you want. It’s selfish, just like not tipping.

    If you want to stick it to those owners who don’t pay fair wages to their workers, don’t patronize their establishments.

    • @Snapz
      -3•7 months ago

      Don’t have the energy for everything that needs response in that, maybe reread it a couple times and respond to yourself

      • @[email protected]English
        4•7 months ago

        Then just leave? What’s the point of a comment like this? Do you not realize how childish it makes you look?

        • @Snapz
          -3•7 months ago

          Childish is you being completely oblivious to any nuance in my previous post and not responding to it substantively when you choose to respond. You’re a child in a room full of adults having a conversation and you’re punching kneecaps and screaming down there, feisty little guy!

          You hold a smartphone with the collective knowledge of humanity in your hand, and you think that because you have quick access to that intelligence, it means you are intelligent. But you have no idea what you’re actually talking about.

          • @[email protected]English
            3•7 months ago

            You don’t have the energy to make a point, but you do have the energy to throw around empty insults. Good for you, really have your priorities straight.