SERVERS

COUNTER ATTENDANTS
The state minimum wage is $8.00, but the
tipped minimum wage is even lower at only
$2.89. Including tips, tipped workers in
Rhode Island earn a median wage of only
$8.00 equivalent to $16,640 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, 30% are moms, and
although many are married, more than
half of these are single moms. Although the
median age for tipped workers is 27, 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 Rhode Island there are over 19,000 tipped
workers, and 69% 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 Rhode Islands
lowest paid jobs. Seven 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
$2.89
MINIMUM WAGE
$8.00
MEDIAN WAGE FOR
TIPPED WORKERS
INCLUDING TIPS
$8.00
GENDER
72%
2
8
%
TIPPED WORKERS WHO
WORK IN RESTAURANTS
69%
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
www.rocunited.org
BUSSERS, RUNNERS, AND
BARTENDER ASSISTANTS
RHODE I SL AND
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 82%
Latino 10%
Asian 5%
Other 2%
Black 1%
<_
24 43%
25-34 20%
35-44 11%
45+ 26%
RACE
AGE
HIGHER EDUCATION
EDUCATION
PARENTS WITH CHILDREN
ON FREE LUNCHES
39%
MARITAL &
PARENTAL
STATUS
55
%
Married 25%
Parents 24%
Dads 11%
Moms 30%
Single Moms 16%
P
O
V
E
R
T
Y
TIPPED RESTAURANT WORKERS
live in POVERTY
at 2X the rate
of the
Rhode Island
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 6% over the next decade.
H
INDUSTRY PROJECTED SALES 2014

2 BILLION
B
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Y

G
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R
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P
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TY

R
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D

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W
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WO
R
K
E
R
S
17
%
15
%
WORKERS ON
FOOD STAMPS
1.3X REST OF RI
WORKFORCE
11%
27
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