I befriended a female waitress/bartender at a bar in Sosua. She was paid 150 pesos/night for her 6pm-2am shift (this comes out to about $9.50 US)plus tips. From what I observed, virtually nobody tipped (a practice I found shocking since it is quite common and indeed expected here in the states). Despite what I consider slave wages, she was later let go because business slowed down. Needless to say, its a life and death struggle for people trying to get by on the lower end of the socio-economic scale.