SERVERS

BUSSERS, RUNNERS, AND

BARTENDER ASSISTANTS
COUNTER ATTENDANTS
The state minimum wage is $7.50, but the
tipped minimum wage is even lower at only
$3.75. Including tips, tipped workers in
Maine 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, nearly 30% are moms,
and although many are married, more than
half of these are single moms. Although the
median age for tipped workers is 33, 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 Maine there are nearly 22,000 tipped
workers, and 59% 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 Maines lowest paid
jobs. Five 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
$3.75
MINIMUM WAGE
$7.50
MEDIAN WAGE FOR
TIPPED WORKERS
INCLUDING TIPS
$8.00
GENDER
80%
2
0
%
TIPPED WORKERS WHO
WORK IN RESTAURANTS
59%
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United
www.rocunited.org
MAI NE
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 95%
Asian 2%
Latino 2%
Other 2%
Black 0%
<_
24 33%
25-34 18%
35-44 20%
45+ 29%
RACE
AGE
HIGHER EDUCATION
EDUCATION
PARENTS WITH CHILDREN
ON FREE LUNCHES
41%
MARITAL &
PARENTAL
STATUS
53
%
Married 29%
Parents 25%
Dads 19%
Moms 27%
Single Moms 14%
P
O
V
E
R
T
Y
Tipped
restaurant workers
live in poverty
at 2X the rate
of the Maine
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 7% over the next decade.
H
INDUSTRY PROJECTED SALES 2014

2 BILLION
B
I
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L
I
O
N
I
N
D
U
S
T
R
Y

G
R
O
W
T
H
18%
P
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R
TY

R
A
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P
O
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R
TY

R
A
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E
T
I
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D

R
E
S
T
A
URA
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T

W
O
R
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R
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T
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D

WO
R
K
E
R
S
18
%
22
%
WORKERS ON
FOOD STAMPS
2X REST OF ME
WORKFORCE
21%
33
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