Is This the End of Tipping?
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
1) ban the subminimum wage system which distinguishes between tipped and untipped employees
2) raise the national minimum wage to $20/hour
3) require restaurants to pay payroll taxes and worker's compensation premiums on tips
4) actually enforce laws against wage theft ... and tax evasion
5) to those who smugly say that tipping is "To Ensure Promptness" - you're a privileged asshole who clearly doesn't care about the racist, sexist, and demeaning practice they support.
This NYT article mentions the sexism and demeaning environment. For racism, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gratuity#Discrimination . And it goes the other way - waitstaff tend to treat black customers less well because black people tend to tip less than white.
6) to those who don't tip as a protest because the system is rigged - you're a cheap asshole. Go places where you don't need to tip.
Things I actually do:
1) complain on HN. :(
So, is 21 the right age? Is 18? Is 16?
Honest question: how would you go about answering your question?
Economists disagree with each other, so it's not something that an HN comment is going to resolve.
Me, I based it on how the minimum wage from the 1950s, adjusted for productivity, would be about $25/hour - https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/21/politics/minimum-wage-inf... .
This means the productivity benefits are going somewhere, but not to the poorest people who are working the most.
Raise minimum wage to $20/hour (and/or increase collective barganining power), and raise taxes on the wealthiest, and increase the social safety net - pretty bog-standard social democratic viewpoints.
That is, I believe there's a big thumb already lowering wages to below its worth. So the real question is, how do we determine "worth"?
Some countries with strong unions, like Denmark, have an equivalent of $20/hour minimum wage for McDonald's employees, even though Denmark has no minimum wage.