Although tipping is not a legal necessity, it’s vital to the worker and very important for the well-being of society. Too many Americans don’t know the effect that tipping has on waiters and waitresses, especially those working below the minimum wage.

Going out to dinner is already expensive, and then having to pay even more after receiving the check is at times intimidating. However, what some people don’t know is that the national tip minimum wage (the wage given to workers on the premise that tips will raise hourly earnings to the normal minimum wage) is $2.13 an hour. That hasn’t changed in over 20 years, according to The Wall Street Journal. But do people really pay the exact tip they’re expected to?

The general rule of thumb is to leave between 15 and 20 percent of your total check before taxes. But, according to Time, one-third of millennials admit to tipping less than 15 percent at restaurants, whereas only 16 percent of older adults admit to tipping less than 15 percent. This trend doesn’t bode well for waiters and waitresses nationwide.

Another factor when deciding on the amount to tip your server is the location at which you find yourself dining. Waiters at a higher-class restaurant will typically receive more money in tips because of the wealthier diners, whereas a smaller restaurant’s servers may not receive even normal minimum wage after factoring in their tips.

Sometimes the tips still don’t quite fill in the gap. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Nearly 15 percent of the nation’s 2.4 million waiters and waitresses live in poverty, compared to about 7 percent of all workers.”

Teens who leave $2 tips after dinner truly don’t understand their impact on the livelihood of waiters. Even though restaurants let diners decide, people should still respect servers by tipping fairly.

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