Fewer Americans are giving holiday tips this year
Many households are planning to skip the holiday tipping ritual this year.
Fewer people expect to tip their childcare providers, mail carriers, teachers and trash collectors, according to a new report, though for those who do, the median holiday tip is expected to remain mostly unchanged from a year ago.
There’s a silver lining for some types of workers, however, who may get bigger gratuities in 2025.
The high-level trend reverses last year’s findings from Bankrate, which showed more Americans—especially GenZers and Millennials, who are comparatively unenthusiastic tippers—were keen to offer holiday tips.
“The pressure on consumers’ wallets from tariffs, inflation and other things can overshadow their generosity,” Bankrate credit cards expert Ana Staples told Investopedia. “While there is this social pressure to tip, people are also very aware of the limitations on their budgets this season.”
This year’s holiday tipping report, which analyzed tipping sentiment regarding six kinds of workers, found it had dipped across all categories versus a year ago, and was down the most for childcare providers. According to the report, 47% of those who use childcare providers said they planned to tip them, down from 55% a year earlier.
Among other roles:
56% of people who use housekeepers said they would tip them, down from 57% in 2024;
47% said they would tip teachers, down from 53%;
27% said they would tip mail carriers, down from 31%;
37% said they would tip landscapers, down from 41%; and
21% said they would tip garbage collectors, down from 26%.
—Read the full story on Investopedia