One major culture shock for non-Americans moving to America is the heavy reliance on the tipping system. For UT international students, accidentally insulting a server by not tipping can be an awkward introduction. Students worry about money enough, with 75% of students reporting moderate to high financial distress. Tipping adds another moral element that can be tricky to navigate.
The vast majority of a server’s income can be made through tips. In the food industry alone, 2.6 million servers and 610,000 bartenders rely on tips as a significant source of income.
The United States federal minimum wage is $7.25, but Texas is one of 15 states that also has a federal tipped minimum wage. The hourly pay for tipped employees in Texas has been a mere $2.13 per hour since 1991.
While tipping is often viewed as beneficial for servers, in reality, the tipping model can harm them. Nearly 15% of servers experience poverty, double the rate of the overall U.S. workforce.
Servers who rely on tips to cover the majority of their wage have an unstable income because it doesn’t account for hours outside of customer interaction, which are often more grueling. Opening and closing shifts are labor-intensive and eat into needed resting time. These hours feel emotionally draining, especially when you know you won’t be reaping any benefits from tips.
Psychology freshman Kira Gonzales describes her experience working at a Wampus restaurant.
“It’s hard (mentally), having to work until three in the morning,” Gonzales said. “Sometimes you can kind of lose yourself. Your job is to be a personality. Your job is to speak to other people and uplift them. … It’s hard to be like that, especially when you’re not getting paid anything.”
Servers relying on tips to cover their income are also subject to a certain amount of vulnerability. Female tipped workers reported experiencing sexual harassment twice as often as workers in states without a tipped minimum wage. Servers should not have to suffer these harmful conditions to ensure income.
