What to Know
- A survey by Creditcards.com revealed that young adults age 18 to 37 are less keen on tipping than the older generations
- One thousand adults took part in the survey, which was conducted from May 18 to 20
- Creditcards.com determined that millennials are most likely to stiff servers; The survey also found that women tend to be generous tippers
Don’t count on the younger generation to throw in a few bucks to waiters serving them — at least according to a new study.
A survey of 1,000 adults conducted from May 18 to 20 by Creditcards.com revealed that young adults age 18 to 37 are less keen on tipping than the older generations — so much so that millennials stinginess when it comes to tipping is seen across the board.
Creditcards.com determined that millennials are most likely to stiff servers with 10 percent of Americans age 18 to 37 saying they regularly forgo leaving a tip. Additionally, nearly one in three young adults leaves less than a 15 percent tip at restaurants while their older counterparts leave more.
A Millennial is also most likely to select the lowest suggested tipping option — with one in six choosing the lowest tip option, while nearly one in five opt to not leave a tip at all. This figure is the highest of any age group, the study revealed.
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However, overall, Millennials would prefer to get rid of tips all together and have the service charge included in the restaurant prices. Nearly 27 percent prefer this option.
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“Tipping at sit-down restaurants has always been the standard in the U.S., but that’s not necessarily the case in other countries,” CreditCards.com senior industry analyst Matt Schulz said in the report. “We’re seeing younger adults tipping less, and even showing a greater preference toward eliminating tipping altogether, even if it means paying more on the bill.”
According to the CreditCards.com survey, other demographics that are more open to getting rid of tipping at restaurants are people with incomes over $75,000 a year, with 26 percent in favor, and people with college degrees, where 30 percent are in favor.
Overall, just 21 percent favored higher food prices and no tipping. Some restaurants have taken that approach, but others have ended no-tipping experiments after losing customers, the study says.
Though the report suggests that at first glance it may seem like millennials are just cheap and thus they tip less or forgo tipping all together, people with more money are generally the ones that tip more. According to the study, since young adults have lower incomes than those further in their careers, this could be a contributing factor to the tipping trend.
The study also sheds a light on other findings, like women are the more generous tippers. The median tip for women is 20 percent, while it is 16 for men.
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Additionally, older people also tend to be better tippers, with nearly 55 percent if seniors age 65 and older said they tip a minimum of 20 percent at restaurants — the highest amount of any age group. About 35 percent of people under 30 reported tipping this amount, according to the study.
Creditcards.com also determined that married people tip more than singles, white restaurant costumers tip more than minorities and customers in the Northeast and the Midwest tend to tip more.
