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What does tipping look like in the United Kingdom?

Sep 21, 2023
Free health care and a higher minimum wage in the U.K. means that there's less reliance on tips to make up workers' income.
In the U.K., the standard tip is roughly 10% at restaurants, though people won’t leave any extra if they think the service hasn’t been good enough.
Peter Summers/Getty Images

Eggs are cheaper, but not housing? Inside the latest consumer price index

The March report shows inflation slowing overall and prices easing in some key areas (food) and not in others (services and shelter.)
Egg prices dropped 10% and fruits and vegetables fell 1.3% from February, according to the CPI. But overall food and beverage prices were up more than 8% from last year.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

What something called "supercore inflation" can tell us about the current economy

Mar 15, 2023
It’s a spending category that looks at core services other than housing. The Fed says it could be key to understanding the future of inflation.
Paying for a haircut or hiring a landscaper are all purchases measured in supercore inflation. The price of these services can also be linked to the wages people are paid to do them.
Hispanolistic/Getty Images

Inflation's already increasing the cost of goods. The cost of services could be next.

Feb 22, 2022
The services sector has been feeling the pinch of higher costs, particularly when it comes to wages.
Wages for workers in service industries like catering and child care have gone up in the tight labor market.
Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Why this longtime bartender quit the service industry

Dec 2, 2021
Neil Cairns of Oregon has been on an employment roller coaster the past two years. Now he’s trying something new.
Economists and central bankers abound are watching today's jobs report to get a gauge on inflation.
Photo by Thomas Patterson for Marketplace

From kitchen-sharing to food carts, some small-scale food purveyors are thriving

Sep 16, 2021
These entrepreneurs are meeting demand from patrons who are having second thoughts about dining out but still want a break from cooking.
Pizza maker Jerry Benedetto has a one-person business making and selling pizzas. He takes orders once weekly for about 100 pizzas —and sells out in three to five minutes, he said.
Katia Riddle

A solution to the service worker shortage? Eliminate tipping, some experts say.

Jul 1, 2021
To promote equity and retain workers as the economy reopens, some restaurants are opting to forgo traditional gratuity models.
A growing number of restaurants are nixing traditional gratuity models, a choice some see as both ethical and practical.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

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What one teen worker is looking for in a job this summer

Jun 4, 2021
Aneesha Edwards in Lexington, Kentucky, is spending her last summer before college working in retail, where customer traffic is steadier than food service.
Aneesha Edwards, a college student, also makes time to work at a pharmacy. With so many Americans quitting their jobs, she feels workers, in many cases, deserve better treatment.
Courtesy Aneesha Edwards

From restaurant to office work –– one server's change of direction

May 28, 2021
We hear from Maria Barillas about how the pandemic drove her to start a new job.
Sebastien Salom-Gomis/Getty Images

Are vaccinations getting people to spend? Maybe not yet.

May 24, 2021
Wall Street Journal reporter Sarah Chaney Cambon notes that unvaccinated people are outspending the vaccinated.
Customers inside a bar in North Hollywood. In order to enter, they must provide proof of vaccination.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images