While tipping started off as a voluntary act, it has now become a socially-expected custom. We are expected to tip a minimum of 15% to 20%, anything above is accepted but certainly going above and beyond to show your gratitude. However, it really is an admirable action to take, as many service industry employees rely on tips to make up for their hourly wage that sometimes cannot pay all the bills. 

The true root of the issue with tipping culture starts with the long-time insufficient minimum wage rate. Many states in the U.S. allow a tip credit policy to count as part of the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour, making many tipped employee’s hourly wages as low as $2.00. To be specific, according to the wage and hour division of the U.S. Labor Department, minimum cash wage employers must pay their servers is $2.13/hour. This system can create monumental problems for employees as they must count on customers to tip well or even at all in order to make somewhat of a living wage. 

Trip Advisor’s article “United States: Tipping & Etiquette” from 2016 explains the essential information people should know when it comes to tipping in the U.S. along with the breakdown of which workers are expected to be given a tip and how much is typically expected as well. It just goes on to show how tipping culture is so deeply integrated into our society.

Personally, I have always tried to tip 20% if I can, and if I’m running low on funds I will tip 15% at the very least. Not everyone has the funds or wants to tip this amount though, leaving employees with no actual control over their income.

It is imperative we support tipped employees with a minimum of 15%, however, it is also important to highlight the need for the minimum wage to be raised once and for all to adjust to each state’s cost of living. 

According to MIT’s living wage calculator, the living wage for one adult with no children in Wake County is $16.32, which is hard to find at the typical customer service job. This tends to force many young adults into working two jobs to be entirely financially independent. Luckily, as college students, we are all working toward higher-paying jobs that will be able to support the cost of living wherever we choose to live — at least that’s the goal.

Even locations such as Manhattan, New York that currently have one of the highest minimum wages to date at $15, still do not meet the necessary amount to support one adult with no children living there, which would be $21.77.

Correspondent Riley Sipe recently addressed this issue in her column specifically in regard to student teachers at NC State who are not paid at all. Not only is this completely unlivable unless they have another source of financial support, but this also demonstrates how NC State needs to adjust its wages to help student workers and all employees. Wages for NC State employees vary in an extremely wide range; however, it is crucial, especially for students, to earn a livable wage in order to support themselves in attending the university they also work for. 

While NC State is considering raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10 for all positions on campus according to Kristie Juda, human resources manager at Campus Enterprises, this is still inadequate considering the typical cost of living in Wake County. Furthermore, the state of North Carolina is staying at its current rate of  $7.25 an hour, a rate that was established more than a decade ago in 2008. This creates extra pressure on patrons to tip their servers because even if they are making minimum wage before tips, they are still not earning enough money from their employers to live a decent life.

It’s time for real action to be taken with a raise in North Carolina and the nationwide minimum wage to where tipping would no longer be an issue that relies so heavily on the public. Employees should not have to count on the public to make up for their lack of wage, nor should the public have to be guilt-tripped into making sure their server gets to go home with a decent earning.  They need to have a fair wage to begin with so any tip serves as what it should — a well-deserved bonus.