Are you tipping your mail carrier? How much do Americans tip during the holidays?

Three out of four Americans think tipping culture has gotten out of control. Apparently, these feelings haven't deterred people from tipping.

Service providers hoping they'll receive more tips this holiday season may be in luck, a new survey found.

The survey of 2,403 U.S. adults found more people planned to tip service providers this year than last, according to Bankrate, a financial service company, which published its findings Monday. Much of this year's holiday gratitude could come from an unexpected source: members of Generation Z. The survey found young people tended to be more frequent and generous holiday tippers than people from older generations.

Dean Redmond, a 24-year-old server in Brooklyn, New York, who makes social media content about his job, confirmed customers leave bigger tips around the holidays. He said there are generous people in every age group and he couldn't pinpoint why Gen Z folks might tip their service providers better than other generations. He guessed it could be because they watch videos like his about what it's like working in the service industry and have seen people called out online for not tipping.

"The younger generation does have a sense of, even if the service is terrible, we're going to give you that tip," said Redmond, who has 294,000 followers on TikTok. "The older generation has a sense of, 'If you do me well, I'll do you well.'"

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Why do people say they tip?

At 80%, the survey found the most common motivation behind holiday tipping was "to say thank you." The next popular reasons to tip were "to reward especially good service" at 47%, "to be generous" at 40%, "because it's expected" at 17% and "to get better service next year" at 15%.

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It also revealed that while more people planned to tip their service providers this year, the amount they planned to give would stay consistent with recent years' findings.

What service workers do people tip? How much for each?

Americans surveyed said they planned to tip their housekeepers and childcare providers $50, their children's teachers $25 and their mail carriers $20, the same amounts as last year. They reported they planned to give smaller tips to their landscapers, who received an average of $37 last year but should expect to receive $30 in 2024, and their trash collectors, who should expect to receive $20 on average, or $5 less than last year.

Adult members of Gen Z, or those between 18 and 27, planned to tip the highest in five of those six service provider categories. Millennials had them beat with their plans to tip landscapers the most of all generations surveyed. 

Gen Z members and Millennials, at 36% and 33% respectively, also led the way in tipping their garbage collectors. In contrast, only 22% of Generation X members and 16% of Baby Boomers reported they planned to tip their garbage collectors, the survey found.  

Younger Americans are traditionally presumed to tip less than older adults "largely because they don't tend to have as much money and also because they aren't as ingratiated with those social norms,” Ted Rossman, Bankrate senior industry analyst, said in a statement. “It's still true that Gen Zers and Millennials are worse tippers at restaurants and other year-round tipping venues. But when it comes to the holidays, young adults are the most generous tippers.”

Another study released this week found members of Gen Z had another unique characteristic around the holidays: they are the most likely generation to purchase things as a coping mechanism because they feel pessimistic about the future after doomscrolling through negative content online. This trend has been dubbed "doom spending."

Reach Rachel Barber at [email protected] and follow her on X @rachelbarber_

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