SERVERS

BUSSERS, RUNNERS, AND

BARTENDER ASSISTANTS
BARTENDERS
The federal minimum wage is $7.25, but
the federal tipped minimum wage is only
$2.13. Minnesota, with a vibrant restaurant
industry, pays tipped and non-tipped
workers alike $7.25. Including tips, tipped
workers earn a median wage of $8.50
equivalent to $17,680 for a full-time year-
round employee. However, tipped workers
generally are allowed part-time schedules
that vary by season, and tips uctuate by
season and shift, leaving many restaurant
workers in a precarious situation.
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, over 30% are moms,
and although many are married, nearly
40% of these are single moms. Although the
median age for tipped workers is 30, 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 Minnesota there are nearly 90,000 tipped
workers, and 64% 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 Minnesotas lowest
paid jobs. Eight 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
$7.25
MINIMUM WAGE
$7.25
MEDIAN WAGE FOR
TIPPED WORKERS
INCLUDING TIPS
$8.50
GENDER
71%
2
9
%
TIPPED WORKERS WHO
WORK IN RESTAURANTS
64%
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
www.rocunited.org
MI NNESOTA
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 79%
Asian 8%
Black 6%
Latino 4%
Other 2%
<_
24 34%
25-34 27%
35-44 17%
45+ 23%
RACE
AGE
HIGHER EDUCATION
EDUCATION
PARENTS WITH CHILDREN
ON FREE LUNCHES
47%
MARITAL &
PARENTAL
STATUS
38
%
Married 33%
Parents 30%
Dads 21%
Moms 33%
Single Moms 13%
P
O
V
E
R
T
Y
TIPPED
RESTAURANT WORKERS
live in POVERTY
at 3X the rate
of the Minnesota
workforce.
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 7% over the next decade.
H
INDUSTRY PROJECTED SALES 2014

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

G
R
O
W
T
H
34%
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
18
%
16
%
WORKERS ON
FOOD STAMPS
2X REST OF MN
WORKFORCE
10%
30
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