Living Tip to Tip

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question to guide discussion: How do you create an economy that is beneficial to most people?

2. List Vocabulary
Share with students some of the challenging vocabulary words in this article. Encourage them to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• eliminated (p. 15)
• automatically (p. 15)
• violations (p. 16)
• exacerbated (p. 16)
• placate (p. 16)
• inherent (p. 16)

3. Engage

Explain that the federal minimum wage for tipped jobs is $2.13, not $7.25, per hour. Then poll students: Is it fair that tipped workers receive a lower minimum wage? Ask students to share their thinking. Revisit the conversation after students have read the article.

4. Read 
Have students read the article, marking the text to note key ideas or questions.

5. Discuss

Distribute or project Up Close: Living Tip to Tip, a close-reading activity for students to work on in small groups. (Note: The questions on the PDF also appear on the facing page of this lesson, with possible responses.) Follow up with a class discussion. If you’re short on time, have each group tackle one or two of the questions. Collect students’ work or have each group report its findings to the class.

• Briefly summarize the history of the tipped minimum wage, including why the regular minimum wage does not cover tipped jobs, why the tipped minimum wage was introduced, and why it does not automatically increase along with the federal minimum wage. ( Summarize, key details)
  (When the federal minimum wage law was introduced in 1938, it didn’t include many workers, including those in jobs done mostly by Black workers. The tipped minimum wage was established in 1967, when Black lawmakers led a fight to secure some degree of wage protection for more Black workers. The tipped minimum wage stopped going up with the regular minimum wage in 1996, as a result of pressure from the restaurant industry.) 

• What problems have some workers long faced because they rely on tipped income? (Problem and solution)
  (One problem they face is that they never know what their income will be, so they have a hard time budgeting. Another problem is that their income drops during slow periods, and they struggle to buy basic necessities. Also, to avoid losing tips, they have to placate difficult customers and feel compelled to put up with harassment.)   

• Why are some restaurant owners and others against raising the tipped minimum wage? Do you think their reasons are valid and sufficient? (Evaluate claims and reasons)
  (They are against raising the tipped minimum wage because they say restaurants were hardest hit during the pandemic and are still struggling financially. They say they’ll have to cut jobs or employee hours if the tipped minimum wage is eliminated. Students’ evaluations will vary, but students should support their points with text evidence.)   

• Why did many restaurant workers leave the industry during the pandemic? (Cause and effect)
  (The pandemic exacerbated many of the problems restaurant workers were already facing. Dealing with unruly customers, especially those who demanded servers remove their masks, became a health issue for workers, who felt like they were being asked to risk their lives to serve food. The income loss during the pandemic also highlighted the inherent problems with relying on tips for income. Workers realized they wanted a different standard of pay. They also realized that feeling compelled to go to work when sick, as they did prepandemic, to avoid income loss because tips on some nights are better than others was problematic, and they didn’t want to return to that model post-pandemic.)

• Based on the article, what do you think restaurants can do to attract workers back to the industry? (Problem and solution, make inferences)
  (Students’ responses will vary, but students should support their ideas with text evidence. They might suggest that raising wages and putting stronger policies in place to protect workers from harassment could entice workers to return. Students might also argue that, though those measures theoretically would prompt workers to return, they are not practical, and some restaurants will simply go out of business, leaving fewer restaurants to compete for fewer workers in the industry.) 

• What does the graph on page 16 add to the article? (Integrate sources)
  (The graph on page 16 visually conveys the information given on page 15 about when the tipped minimum wage was introduced and how it has risen—or not risen—along with the regular minimum wage.)   

6. Writing Prompt
Research two articles, one pro and one con for eliminating the tipped minimum wage. Then write your own argument on the issue. Cite evidence from this article and the ones you researched.

7. Video
What does the video about the tipped minimum wage add to your understanding?

8. Classroom Debate
Should the tipped minimum wage be eliminated?

9. Quiz & Skills
Use the quiz to assess students’ comprehension and Be the Editor to review grammar skills.