A recent survey has revealed that Generation Z is tipping less frequently at bars and restaurants, raising concerns among service industry workers. The Bankrate report, released earlier this year, found that Gen Z, typically defined as those born in the late 1990s to early 2000s, is currently the least likely age group to leave tips.
This trend has been especially noticeable at bars, where many bartenders report receiving significantly lower tips from younger customers compared to older patrons. Some have expressed frustration, calling the shift a "terrible trend" that affects their livelihood.
Tipping has long been a crucial part of income for many service workers in the United States, especially in the food and beverage industry. While inflation and rising costs may be affecting young people's spending habits, many in the industry hope the trend doesn't continue.
"Even five years ago, young people would still be kind of generous," Brit Wolfe Wilson, a bartender in California, told the San Francisco Standard. "Now they're definitely skimping on tips."
Derek Brown, co-founder of Drink Company, a hospitality consulting agency in Washington, DC, told Fox News Digital that tips for bartenders should be 20%, just as with servers at a restaurant.
"That's how much a tip should be," Brown said. "Now I do understand that if you get poor service, maybe you knock it down to 18%. I get that."
But some bartenders claim they're consistently receiving less than that.
"I'm impressed with people when they tip more than 15%," Elliott Rightmire, a California bartender and fellow Gen-Zer, told the San Francisco Standard.
Fox News Digital spoke to two recent college graduates who said they're mindful when it comes to tipping their bartenders.
"I always leave a tip," Katie Fites said. "Unless you are really, really mean to me, I'm going to leave you a tip, even if it's just a dollar."
Fites, who graduated from Florida State University (FSU) in the spring, used to be a bartender, so the 22-year-old Jacksonville resident said she's been on the wrong side of poor tipping before.
So has Kaitlyn Walsh, another recent FSU graduate who said she will "always try to tip" 20% when she's having drinks at a bar or restaurant.
Walsh, 24, said most of her friends do the same, but sometimes when she's out, "you could look over and someone's filling out the receipt, and they're just putting zero or slashing it."
