State of Tipped Workers - VERMONT

Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
www.rocunited.org
COUNTER
ATTENDANTS
The state minimum wage is $8.73, but the
tipped minimum wage is even lower at
only $4.23. Including tips, tipped workers
in Vermont earn a median wage of only
$8.64 — equivalent to $17,971 for a full-
time year-round employee. However, 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. Higher wages reduce
turnover and pour millions of dollars back
into the local economy.
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 30% are moms,
and although many are married, one-third 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 Vermont there are nearly 9,000 tipped
workers, and 71% 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 Vermont’s lowest paid jobs.
Three of the ten lowest paid occupations are
in the restaurant industry, and one of these is
a tipped occupation. Servers are the eleventh
lowest paid occupation in the state.
TIPPED
MINIMUM WAGE
$4.23
MINIMUM WAGE
$8.73
MEDIAN WAGE FOR
TIPPED WORKERS
INCLUDING TIPS
$8.64
GENDER
71%
2
9
%
TIPPED WORKERS WHO
WORK IN RESTAURANTS
71%
LOWEST PAID
TIPPED OCCUPATION
VERMONT
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 96%
Asian 4%
Latino 0%
Black 0%
Other 0%
<_
24 39%
25-34 14%
35-44 17%
45+ 30%
RACE
AGE
HIGHER EDUCATION
EDUCATION
PARENTS WITH CHILDREN
ON FREE LUNCHES
56%
MARITAL &
PARENTAL
STATUS
34
%
Married 22%
Parents 22%
Dads 17%
Moms 25%
Single Moms 8%
P
O
V
E
R
T
Y
Vermont has
reduced poverty
levels among tipped
workers to match
the rest of the
workforce.
RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE
Living off tips is precarious, but it doesn’t have
to be this way. Raising the minimum wage and
eliminating the tipped credit would provide
a significant 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
➤
1 BILLION
B
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WO
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S
9
%
10
%
WORKERS ON
FOOD STAMPS
2X REST OF VT
WORKFORCE
16%
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