Survey: We Tip The People That Clean Our Houses, But Not The Ones Who Collect Our Garbage

For a lot of people in various facets of the service industry, this time of year means that some customers will brighten up your holidays with a gift or a tip to show their appreciation. But new numbers from our surveying siblings at Consumer Reports break down which particular people get the most end-of-year love.

By far the most-tipped group on the Consumer Reports survey are the folks that clean your house. Nearly half the respondents say they tipped with cash, check or gift card, while an additional 12% provided some sort of gift, meaning that only 39% of respondents gave nothing.

Cleaning persons also had the highest median value of the gift or tip given at $50.

A not-very-close second place was the Teachers group, where only 48% of respondents said they gave some sort of gift. This is a significant drop from last year, when 60% of people gifted their educators.

On the hairy side of things, hairdressers edged out barbers, with 44% of respondents giving tips or gifts to the former and 38% to the latter. Hairdressers also received more money, with a median value of $15 compared to $10 for barbers.

Bringing up the rear in this year’s survey are mail carriers and sanitation workers. Only 21% of people gave some sort of tip or gift to the person that brings them the credit card applications and catalogs they never asked for. Meanwhile, only 12% showed their gratitude for the men and women who haul away our refuse every week.

Overall, 54% of respondents said they didn’t tip at least one of the 10 groups listed in the survey, and 38% said they didn’t tip any of the listed services.

Read the whole report at ConsumerReports.org.

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