The system of tipping in the US is used to skirt around minimum wage laws and to push the cost of labor onto the customer, which makes eating out at restaurants seem deceptively cheaper than in other countries.
And the servers are often happy with this arrangement, because unlike a higher wage, the cash tips are rarely correctly reported as income and thus perceived as tax-free. Other than the damage to rule-of-law and personal integrity, everyone wins!
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The system of tipping in the US is used to skirt around minimum wage laws and to push the cost of labor onto the customer, which makes eating out at restaurants seem deceptively cheaper than in other countries.
And the servers are often happy with this arrangement, because unlike a higher wage, the cash tips are rarely correctly reported as income and thus perceived as tax-free. Other than the damage to rule-of-law and personal integrity, everyone wins!
The cost of labor is always pushed into the client. The only difference is that tips aren't added to the price, or fixed.