Fewer Americans plan to tip this holiday season
Americans are pulling back on holiday tipping in 2025, according to Bankrate’s latest Holiday Tipping Survey, with declines showing up across several common categories—from childcare to teachers and home services. The drop comes as many households juggle higher everyday costs and a long list of year-end obligations, but the data also points to a widening generational split over what tipping should be and when it is warranted.
Among respondents who use housekeepers, 56% said they plan to tip this holiday season, down from recent years. The share planning to tip childcare providers fell to 47% from 55% in 2024, while the share planning to tip teachers slipped to 47% from 53%.
Holiday tipping differs from the more routine decision of leaving a gratuity at a restaurant or salon. It often involves a broader circle of workers—mail carriers, building staff, trash and recycling collectors—turning seasonal gratitude into a potentially significant line item in household budgets.
Boomers tip more often—and complain more about tipping culture
One of the most striking findings is that baby boomers remain the most consistent tippers across day-to-day service categories, even as they are also the most likely to express frustration with modern tipping norms.
In sit-down restaurants, 83% of baby boomers said they always tip their server, compared with 35% of Gen Z. Similar gaps appear elsewhere: 71% of boomers said they always tip at hair salons versus 25% of Gen Z, and 61% said they consistently tip taxi and rideshare drivers compared with 23% of Gen Z.
Yet boomers also report more negative feelings about tipping culture overall. Bankrate found that 68% of boomers hold at least one negative view about tipping, compared with 57% of Gen Z and 50% of millennials. Many cite concerns that tipping expectations have expanded too far, or that employers should raise wages rather than relying on customers to make up the difference.
The result is a paradox: boomers are the most reliable tippers while also being the most vocal critics of the system. The pattern suggests a generation adhering to long-standing social norms even when those norms increasingly feel burdensome.
Younger adults are rewriting the rules
Younger Americans, particularly Gen Z, appear to treat tipping less as a default obligation and more as a discretionary, performance-based reward. A separate 2024 survey by Talker Research found 74% of Gen Z respondents had left without tipping due to unsatisfactory service, compared with 46% of baby boomers.
At the same time, Gen Z is more open to tipping in newer contexts. About one in four Gen Z respondents said fast-food restaurants and drive-thrus warrant tips, while only one in 20 boomers agreed. While that may seem at odds with Gen Z’s lower overall tipping rates, it reflects a different philosophy: a willingness to tip in more places, paired with a stricter approach to when tipping is “earned.”
Payment preferences also differ sharply. Older adults are far more likely to tip in cash—Bankrate data shows 95% of those 65 and older prefer cash—while younger consumers are more comfortable with digital options such as app-based transfers and on-screen tip prompts.
Why tipping is falling: budgets, pressure, and values
Financial constraints are an obvious factor. Gen Z is the youngest cohort in the workforce and generally has less accumulated wealth, making consistent tipping harder when expenses rise. But the survey data suggests the decline is not purely economic; it also reflects changing attitudes about responsibility and fairness.
Bankrate found that 38% of Americans overall feel obligated to tip regardless of service quality. By generation, however, 44% of Gen Z and 42% of millennials said they feel obligated—higher than the 29% reported by boomers. In other words, younger adults report more social pressure to tip, even as they tip less often in practice.
That mismatch may help explain more selective tipping behavior: when people feel compelled to tip but face tighter budgets, they may prioritize certain situations and skip others. There is also a broader values shift at play. Across generations, 79% of respondents said service workers should receive higher wages rather than relying on tips, a view that aligns with growing skepticism about tipping as a substitute for predictable pay.
Holiday tipping categories see the biggest pullback
The steepest declines appear in the seasonal categories where tipping can feel less routine and more financially daunting. Among those who use landscapers, gardeners, or snow removal services, only 37% said they plan to tip. The share planning to tip mail carriers was 27%, and just 21% planned to tip trash or recycling collectors.
Bobbi Rebell, a certified financial planner quoted in the survey coverage, attributed much of the pullback to household stress. “Most people do care about these important community members but they are also feeling their own financial stress, anxiety and budget shortfalls,” she said. “That can overshadow generosity, which can be considered optional.”
For those who do tip, amounts were mostly steady. The median holiday tip for housekeepers was about $50, with childcare providers and teachers in a similar range. One notable exception was landscapers, where the median rose from $30 to $50.
What it signals for service work and compensation
With 63% of Americans holding at least one negative view about tipping—up from 59% last year—businesses and service workers may face increasing pressure to rethink compensation models as younger consumers become a larger share of the customer base.
Ted Rossman, Bankrate’s senior industry analyst, advised consumers to prioritize if they cannot afford to tip everyone. He recommended focusing on workers who provided exceptional service throughout the year, such as a standout babysitter, housekeeper, or landscaping crew.
As holiday tipping continues its gradual decline, the generational divide suggests the U.S. is moving toward a more fragmented tipping culture: older Americans maintaining traditional expectations, and younger adults applying a more selective, values-driven approach. For now, the survey indicates that gratitude is still widespread—but increasingly constrained by budgets and shifting beliefs about who should bear the responsibility for paying service workers.
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