They don't raise the price, they raise the tip

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By TP


Justice, also known as @antidietpilot, is a young woman from Chicago who has been using the platform with more than 66,000 followers on TikTok for some time to protest the deep-rooted tipping culture in the United States. On the social network she explains, for example, why she does not pay the tip to the hairdresser who does her braids, which generates a multitude of comments on her videos. There are many people who reproach her for this, but she finds more and more sympathizers with her cause. 35% of Americans consider that the payment of tips is an issue that “has gotten out of hand,” according to a survey carried out between April and May by YouGov for the Bankrate financial network. The results of this popular pulse point to that 59% of consumers view this practice negatively. Although it is a lower percentage than last year, the survey also highlights that up to 37% consider that employers should pay their employees better to prevent them from having to depend on tips. Up to five million employees nationwide depend on these extras, 70% of them women. Many Americans are put off by payment screens, which in just a few years are everywhere and include pre-calculated tips that reach 25 %. There are a majority of those who pay less through these screens than those who feel they have to pay more, an unintended consequence of the design of this form of payment. Even so, most consumers pay 20% or more of the total bill for a service when it has been to their liking. The fatigue with tips on the part of those who have to pay them coincides with years of high inflation that has left increases in many services. Curiously, and despite the burden of inflation, 14% of those surveyed would prefer to pay more for a service so as not to have to add the tip. Ted Rossman, an analyst at Bankrate, recognizes that tipping is a controversial issue but that it is not going to disappear. “Many companies are reluctant to raise prices further given the increases in recent years, but asking for a tip is a way of raising prices that doesn't seem like it,” he explains. “Tipping is a surcharge borne by consumers, allowing workers to earn more without the employer having to take responsibility,” he adds. Those who most protest the increase in these payments – at least 20% in a restaurant – are the people. older people, especially retirees. However, even if reluctantly, they are the ones who end up opening their purse the most to pay the extra. The statistic reverses with age: only 35% of members of Generation Z leave tips. Those who receive the most tips are waiters and restaurant staff, those in salons and barbershops, as well as food delivery people. Taxi drivers also tend to have generous clients. But there are jobs that see less and less money from clients. Hotel employees, those in cafeterias, those who transport furniture, those who serve take-out food and those who perform services and repairs in homes have seen their amounts reduced. Despite everything, and despite the conversations that are generated around the percentage, there are still almost a third of clients who say they feel very good when they do it.