I sympathize with the barista here, but mindset that customers need to cover 10 to 20% of his income is symptom of decades of brainwashing of employees and customers alike. In this case NPR is part of this brainwashing. I will not tip someone for doing their job. I will only tip when I feel it is needed based on the service provided.
I disagree, he hasn’t shown that the amount of unreported tips each year is substantial enough to even affect social security. Especially in a world where more and more transactions are completely cashless. You know what makes a bigger difference? Undocumented migrants that work under the table.
According to https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/08/20/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/
“7.6 million immigrant workers are unauthorized immigrants,”
And https://immigrantdataca.org/indicators/median-hourly-wage
“in 2019, the median hourly wage […] $13 for undocumented immigrants”
So $13 x 40 hours x 52 weeks x 7.6M workers = $205B of untaxed income
According to https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/02/how-much-do-waiters-really-earn-in-tips/385515/
“Nationally this adds up to as much as $11 billion in unreported (and untaxed) income.”
Let’s also talk about wage theft because https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/owed-employers-face-little-accountability-for-wage-theft/
“According to one estimate from the nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute, reported and unreported wage theft could amount to as much as $50 billion per year owed to workers.”
So tell me again how workers are the ones causing the problems.
