Grow the Economy: Raise the wages of tipped workers

GROW THE ECONOMY Raise the wages of tipped workers! Who are tipped workers? Racial Composition •2 in 3 are women 100% Native American & Other • Most are restaurant workers (mainly servers) 80% I Asjan 60% • Half are 30 years old or older •1 in 3 are parents and 1 in 6 of those I Black 40% I Latino White 20% rely on free lunches to feed their children tipped workers (6 million) all workers • 1 in 7 rely on food stamps (155 million) Tipped work is one of the FASTEST GROWING occupations and one of the LOWEST PAID, especially for workers of color. Tipped workers earn a median of $8.00/hr,* but which state you live in matters: MINIMUM WAGES OF TIPPED WORKERS BY STATE Minimum wage for tipped workers (excluding tips) lowest ($2.13) middle ($2.14-7.24) highest ($7.25-9.19) Source: Departmentof Labor Wage and Hour Division, Minimum Wages for Employees January 1, 2013. http://www.dolgov/whd/state/tipped.htm The last time they had a raise was when That's 1 in 4 living in poverty! Paula Abdul had a top 10 hit in 1991! POVERTY RATES FOR TIPPED WORKERS In states with the lowest minimum wage ($2.13/hr), the poverty rate for workers of color is nearly DOUBLE that of states with the highest minimum wage. white 16% people of color 25% all 20% In states with the highest minimum wage ($7.25-9.19/hr), wages still aren't great, but the poverty rate for tipped workers is lowest of all the states. white 13% people of color 14% Tipped workers live in poverty at 3X the rate of the U.S. workforce. all 14% In states with a minimum wage in the middle ($2.14- 7.24/hr), poverty rates are in between the other states. *This wage includes tips. Tipped worker paychecks primarily go to taxes, meaning workers often live off of tips alone. It doesn't have to be this way... 700,000 $12.7 billion What would happen if we raised the federal to $10.10 tipped workers would be lifted out of poverty (over half would be workers of color) more wages every year and more spending to boost the economy minimum wage for all workers? and create jobs Join ROC United's campaign to raise the tipped minimum wage at livingofftips.com. Lifting Up What Works ROC United is working to raise wages and labor standards for the nation's 10 million restaurant workers. Learn more at www.rocunited.org. PolicyLink PolicyLink is a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity by Lifting Up What Works®. Learn more at www.policylink.org Source: U.S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Survey. 2006-2012. Calculations by Restaurant Opportunities Centers United based on King et al., Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 3.0 [Machine-readable database]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2010. (accessed November 2013). Design by Leslie Yang. Paula Abdul illustration by Jim Sweet. © 2013 by PolicyLink and ROC United. All rights reserved.