while declaring the economy still strong,
said the Administration is examining vari-
ous options to bolster the economy. Still,
whenever the next recession comes, more
workers will have to turn to the booming
service industry, where low wages and un-
stable hours are the norm.
Christina MunCe didn’t plan to be a
waitress. She was in school studying mas-
sage therapy when, at 21, she got preg-
nant, and started waiting tables to put
away the cash she would need as a young
mother. She doesn’t regret a thing—her
daughter, now 11, is her whole world,
her name tattooed in cursive on Munce’s
forearm. Pictures of the two posing to-
gether dominate the otherwise blank
walls of their government- subsidized
two-bedroom apartment. But being a
single parent has limited Munce’s job
options, since she needs the flexibility to
take care of her daughter.
Tipped workers have always been an
underclass in America. The concept was
popularized in 1865, when some formerly
enslaved people found employment as
waiters, barbers and porters; still seen as
a servant class, they were hired to serve.
Many employers refused to pay them, in-
stead suggesting that patrons tip for their
service. A 1966 law tried to bring some
measure of security to these jobs, requir-
ing employers to pay a small base wage
that would bring tipped workers up to
the federal minimum wage when com-
bined with their tips. In 1991, the tipped
minimum wage was equal to 50% of the
value of the overall minimum wage, but
it’s stayed at $2.13 since then, as the mini-
mum wage has nearly doubled. In 1996,
President Bill Clinton signed legislation
that froze the wage for tipped workers at
that amount. It hasn’t changed since.
The regular minimum wage has dou-
bled in that time. If the tipped minimum
wage had even risen with inflation since
1991, it would be $6 an hour, according to
research from Sylvia Allegretto, co-chair
of the Center on Wage and Employment
Dynamics at the University of Califor-
nia, Berkeley. Only 12 states currently
pay waitstaff above that.
The serving workforce remains
a micro cosm of pay disparities in
the broader economy. According to
2011–2013 data from the Economic Policy
Institute, people of color make up nearly
% WOMEN
All U.S.
full-time
jobs Tipped
restaurant
jobs
Women
make
what men
make
2.1 million
483,312
Waiters and
waitresses
Hairdressers
393,102
Bartenders
0
2
4
$6
76 %
Women
make
what men
make
81 %
POVERTY
RATES
(2013–15)
Non-tipped
workers
States with
$2.13 federal
minimum wage
for tipped jobs
States with one
minimum wage
for tipped and
non-tipped jobs
Tipped
workers
6.7%
14.8%
6.2%
11.7%
FEDERAL
MINIMUM
WAGE FEDERAL
“TIPPED”
MINIMUM
WAGE
Rate last
raised in
1991
Rate last
raised in
2009
’66 ’70 ’80 ’90 2000 ’10 2019
$2.13
$7. 25
70 %
94 %
58 %
A TWO-TIERED SYSTEM
CONTRIBUTES TO
HIGH POVERTY
WOMEN
ARE MORE
2 3 AFFECTED
43 states use
the two-tiered
system: 17
follow the $2.13
federal tipped
rate, while 26
offer more than
$2.13. Seven
states have one
minimum wage
for all workers
The federal minimum wage
for tipped employees is 71%
less than for other workers;
tips are meant to cover
this difference
In the U.S., more than
4 million people work for
tips; 2 in 3 are women
There is a stark gender
pay gap in tipping jobs;
a 2015 study found that
female restaurant workers
earned $9.81 an hour on
average while their male
co-workers made $12.95
SOURCES: PEW RESEARCH CENTER; CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE; DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE; RESTAURANT OPPORTUNITIES CENTERS UNITED
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