Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A Washington Post reporter walks into a high-end restaurant and discovers that some waiters write orders down and others don’t. This is front-page news. I am not kidding — you can read the article by clicking here.
What the reporter failed to notice is that all the waiters – and all the people he interviewed – were men. This is not an accident.
The restaurant industry has a history of gender (and race) discrimination, particularly in higher-end establishments. One recent study found that discrimination in New York City prevented many women (and people of color) from obtaining the industry’s living wage positions and that women paid a “gender tax” of 21.8 percent lower earnings than they would have received if they had the same qualifications but were men.
What does this mean locally?
According to our new Grantee Partner Restaurant Opportunities Center-DC, the restaurant industry is one of the largest and fastest-growing sectors in the city. Restaurant jobs represent 7 percent of total employment in DC (more than 21,000 workers) and are expected to grow 12.1 percent over the next 10 years, adding nearly 6,000 new jobs. The industry is expected to thrive even during the recession.
In contrast to other major cities, the majority of restaurant workers in the city are women (50.5 percent here versus 30 percent in New York, for example). Many, particularly women of color, are single mothers.
Unfortunately, a lot of these jobs do not pay family-sustaining wages. The median wage for DC restaurant workers is $9.11 (less than $20,000 per year for full-time work), often without benefits. In fine-dining establishments (the focus of today’s Washington Post article), however, wait staff and bartending positions can earn anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 a year.
So as you consider participating in our region’s semi-annual Restaurant Week, may I suggest you pay attention to the staffing of the restaurants you choose? For my part, when making reservations at higher-end restaurants this week forward, I will start by asking whether they employ any women waiters. If not, I intend to take my business elsewhere.