Tipping is a very American concept – most people around the world aren’t expected to tip, because employers elsewhere are expected to actually pay a living wage to workers in the service industry. Tipping culture has been expanding fast, too, and now it’s not just waiters, bartenders or hairdressers you’re expected to tip. More and more establishments where you wouldn’t normally tip are asking for something extra at checkout, and some people have even been asked to tip self-checkout machines with no human interaction.
Due to these recent developments, nearly 3 in 4 Americans think tipping has gotten out of control, according to a new WalletHub survey. The survey asked about a variety of topics, such as when people believe they should have to tip, whether they feel pressured to do so, and how they think gratuities should be split.
Key Stats
- Enough is enough: Nearly 3 in 4 Americans think tipping has gotten out of control.
- Necessity or bonus: 64% of people think a tip is something you should give when you feel like it instead of something you always have to give.
- Employer crowdfunding: Nearly 3 in 5 Americans think businesses are replacing employee salaries with customer tips.
- Suggestion screen penalty: More than 1 in 4 Americans tip less when they’re presented with a tip suggestion screen.
- Automatic annoyance: 78% of people think automatic service charges should be banned.
- Pressure to tip: Half of Americans say they often leave a tip due to social pressure rather than good service.
Ask the Experts
To gain further insight on tipping culture and how it has expanded, we posed the following questions to a panel of experts. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses.
- Do you agree with the nearly 3 in 4 Americans who think tipping culture is out of control?
- How does the recent expansion of tipping culture impact consumers and workers?
- Should people be obligated to tip or should tips be entirely voluntary due to good service?
- Should automatic service charges be banned?
Ask the Experts
Survey Methodology
This report reflects the results of a nationally representative online survey of more than 210 respondents.
After we collected all responses, we normalized the data by gender and income so that the sample would reflect U.S. demographics.
Full Survey & Responses
Are businesses replacing employee salaries with tips? | |
---|---|
Yes | 57% |
No | 43% |
What is a tip? | |
Something I should give when I feel like it | 64% |
Something I always have to give | 36% |
Do you tip more or less when you’re presented with a tip suggestion screen? | |
About the same | 50% |
Less | 27% |
More | 23% |
Should automatic service charges be banned? | |
Yes | 78% |
No | 22% |
Do you think tipping culture has gotten out of control? | |
Yes | 74% |
No | 26% |
Do you think tips should be split among all employees or only the ones who provided the service? | |
Only the service providers | 67% |
All employees | 33% |
Do you often leave a tip because of social pressure rather than deserving service? | |
No | 50% |
Yes | 50% |
Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
WalletHub experts are widely quoted. Contact our media team to schedule an interview.