BUSSERS, RUNNERS, AND

BARTENDER ASSISTANTS
COUNTER ATTENDANTS
The state minimum wage is $7.95, but the
tipped minimum wage is even lower at only
$3.98. The minimum wage increases annually
with ination due to a voter supported ballot
initiative. However, including tips, tipped
workers in Ohio earn a median wage of only
$8.00 equivalent to $16,640 for a full-
time year-round employee. Tipped workers
generally are allowed part-time schedules that
vary by season. Seven states have eliminated
the tipped minimum wage in those states
tipped workers receive the full minimum wage.
The Rising American Electorate refers to the
demographic groups that are growing the
most rapidly, historically with lower voter
participation rates, but whose growing civic
engagement has been crucial in tipping the
scales in recent elections. Tipped workers
are primarily women, nearly 40% are moms,
and although many are married, nearly
half of these are single moms. Although the
median age for tipped workers is 29, half of
them are younger. And they are racially diverse,
overrepresented by Latinos, Asians, and African
Americans compared to the broader workforce.
They are also a highly educated group.
Tipped workers are a snapshot of the RAE.
TIPPED WORKERS AND THE RISING AMERICAN ELECTORATE
THE STATE
OF TIPPED
WORKERS
In Ohio there are over 194,000 tipped workers,
and 67% of these work in the restaurant
industry. The restaurant industry employs
nearly 10% of the workforce and is one of
the fastest growing sectors of the US economy.
Unfortunately, the restaurant industry offers
several of Ohios lowest paid jobs. Seven
of the ten lowest paid occupations are in
the restaurant industry, and three of these
are tipped occupations.
3 LOWEST PAID
TIPPED OCCUPATIONS
TIPPED
MINIMUM WAGE
$3.98
MINIMUM WAGE
$7.95
MEDIAN WAGE FOR
TIPPED WORKERS
INCLUDING TIPS
$7.85
GENDER
74%
2
6
%
TIPPED WORKERS WHO
WORK IN RESTAURANTS
67%
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
www.rocunited.org
SERVERS
OHI O
In states with
a tipped minimum
wage of $2.13, the poverty rates for
workers of color is nearly double that of
the seven states without a tipped minimum
wage, with one in four living in poverty.
WHITE PEOPLE OF COLOR ALL
POVERTY RATES IN $2.13 STATES
16% 25% 20%
POVERTY RATES IN STATES WITH NO TIP CREDIT
13% 14% 14%
TIPPED WORKERS AND THE RISING AMERICAN ELECTORATE
White 83%
Black 8%
Asian 4%
Latino 3%
Other 2%
<_
24 35%
25-34 25%
35-44 15%
45+ 25%
RACE
AGE
HIGHER EDUCATION
EDUCATION
PARENTS WITH CHILDREN
ON FREE LUNCHES
59%
MARITAL &
PARENTAL
STATUS
48
%
Married 31%
Parents 30%
Dads 14%
Moms 36%
Single Moms 17%
P
O
V
E
R
T
Y
RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE
Living off tips is precarious, but it doesnt have
to be this way. Raising the minimum wage and
eliminating the tipped credit would provide
a signicant stimulus to the U.S. economy in
tipped wages alone, providing a boost to local
economies and the broader food industry, as well.
FOR MORE INFO rocunited.org/stateoftippedworkers/
The industry projects employment will continue
to grow at the rate of 6% over the next decade.
H
INDUSTRY PROJECTED SALES 2014

17.8 BILLION
B
I
L
L
I
O
N
I
N
D
U
S
T
R
Y

G
R
O
W
T
H
35%
P
O
V
E
R
TY

R
A
T
E
P
O
V
E
R
TY

R
A
T
E
T
I
P
P
E
D

R
E
S
T
A
URA
N
T

W
O
R
K
E
R
S
T
I
P
P
E
D

WO
R
K
E
R
S
23
%
19
%
WORKERS ON
FOOD STAMPS
2X REST OF OHIO
WORKFORCE
18%
29
MEDIAN AGE
of tipped
worker moms
are single moms
MINIMIM
WAGE
$10.10
$12.00
$15.00
TIPPED
STIMULUS
$12.7
$19.4
$30.1
TIPPED RESTAURANT WORKERS
live in POVERTY
at 3X the rate
of the Ohio
workforce.