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.

  • @Tilgare
    4•6 months ago

    I understand your perspective, but you were a victim of a fucked up system and continue to be. I agree that giving up tipping would require us to also support the workers getting a fair wage. But the whole rest of the world has proven your “shitty service” theory entirely wrong - they are able to pay food service workers properly AND give great service, and I suspect the whole world would chime in with a wealth of experience. And not paying slave labor wages doesn’t drive the cost of goods up as much as the capitalists would lead you to believe. Again, proven by the entirety of Europe.