Is Tipping Getting Out of Control?

If you feel like requests for tips are everywhere, you’re not alone. From dry cleaners to shops, prompts to provide a gratuity are popping up in unusual places. 

Tipping has long been part of American culture, expected in restaurants, hair salons and taxis — anywhere workers rely on them for a livable wage. An explosion of digital point-of-sale terminals and contactless checkouts has resulted in even more requests for tips. 

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And it’s not going unnoticed. Recent polling from the Pew Research Center found 7 in 10 U.S. adults, or 72 percent, said they’ve witnessed an uptick in the number of places they are expected to tip at compared to five years ago. Of those surveyed, only about one-third say it’s extremely or very easy to know whether and how much to tip. The new prompts to tip can be frustrating and annoying for consumers who don’t want to give 20 percent for a $5 purchase at the convenience store every morning. Nearly 3 out of 5 (59 percent) U.S. adults in a Bankrate survey said they have a negative view about tipping. 

Among the respondents:

• 37 percent said businesses should pay employees better.
• 34 percent expressed annoyance at seeing pre-entered tip screens.
• 35 percent feel the tipping culture is out of control.
• 11 percent are confused about whom and how much to tip.
• 14 percent would be willing to pay more in lieu of tipping. 

"Older Americans seem to have the most sticker shock about the rising cost of tipping, yet they're still much more frequent tippers than Gen Zers and millennials,” says Ted Rossman, Bankrate senior industry analyst. “Boomers and Gen Xers grumble about how much tipping costs, but they still tip pretty generously."

That’s particularly true at sit-down restaurants. Bankrate found 86 percent of baby boomers and 78 percent of Gen Xers always tip. That compares to 35 percent of Gen Zers and 56 percent of millennials. Among women, 71 percent who go to sit-down restaurants always tip compared to 63 percent of men. Ironically when it comes to complaining about tipping baby boomers and Gen Xers have more to gripe about than their younger counterparts.

People grew accustomed to tipping during the pandemic to help small businesses and restaurants stay afloat. In turn, more businesses added the ability to tip to their point-of-sale terminals and — voilà! — a new tipping culture emerged. “Now that the Pandora’s box has been opened, you can’t really shut it again,” says Jaime E. Peters, assistant dean of accounting, finance and economics at Maryville University in Town and Country, Missouri. 

But just because you’re prompted to tip everywhere doesn’t mean you have to. There are times when it is absolutely necessary and other instances when there’s discretion. Here’s how to navigate the new tipping culture.