Growing up, tipping was simple: 15–20% for sitdown restaurants, maybe your hairdresser. Now it’s an expected tax on every transaction. The frozen yogurt shop where I serve myself wants 20%. Self-checkout kiosks are asking for tips. This is insane. 

When I traveled Europe last summer, I paid exactly what was on the menu. No guilt, no calculations, no awkward pressure. Servers were paid living wages and the service was excellent. 

Meanwhile, I’m expected to subsidize corporate America’s refusal to pay fair wages while their CEOs pocket millions in bonuses. It’s 2025, and American tipping culture has spiraled out of control. It’s hurting workers, stressing customers, and letting profitable businesses guilt-trip their own customers into covering payroll. When I worked retail years ago, my employer paid my full wage. I didn’t expect customers to subsidize my paycheck because my boss decided to pocket the difference. Yet somehow in 2025, we’ve normalized corporations outsourcing their payroll responsibility to guilt-ridden customers. 72% of U.S. adults say tipping is expected in more places today than it was five years ago. But even as Americans say they’re being asked to tip more often, only about a third say it’s extremely or very easy to know whether (34%) or how much (33%) to tip for various services. 

[...] The confusion is real and it’s intentional. Companies benefit from our uncertainty because confused customers tend to over-tip rather than risk social judgment.