What Your Tipping Habits Say About You

Tipping in restaurants has long been the norm here in Canada, but despite the fact that it's a common (and expected) practice, how much you tip, when, and where, remains a personal and often highly controversial choice.
A recent survey by CreditCards.com shed some light into the differences between tipping habits not only across the country, by between different age groups, genders, and even political affiliations.

Facts About Tipping

​Collectively, about 80 percent of the survey's 1,002 respondents reported always tipping in restaurants, with the median tip rate being 18 percent, and people earning over $75,000 annually top the charts in terms of the average size of their tips.

Tipping isn't limited to restaurants - nearly one-third of those surveyed tip both the baristas in coffee shops and housekeepers in hotels, while two-thirds also tip their stylist or barber. Whether you tip when getting your hair done often depends on your age - the older you are, the less likely you are to tip outside of restaurants.
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In fact, tipping isn't the norm across the world - in many countries tips aren't expected, while leaving a tip in some regions is considered to be an insult. In Japan, leaving a tip can lead to confusion, while China is also a no-tipping country. Switzerland's labor laws mean that restaurant staff are already well-compensated through their salary, and therefore, servers do not rely on tips to make up part of their wages.