 TITLE: Women and Credit 2020: How History Shaped Today’s Credit Landscape CONTENT: Then the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 was signed into law, and lenders were banned from discriminating against consumers based on their sex or marital status.\nLenders could no longer require a male cosigner or otherwise treat women differently when they applied for credit, and women could not be charged higher interest rates or be required to make larger down payments than a man. But while there are consequences when the law is broken, there are still ways gender disparities and biases continue to affect women seeking credit.\nFor instance, because creditors use income as a primary qualification in lending decisions, women who earn less than men—or who earn no income as family caregivers—may have a harder time getting credit, or getting the most favorable terms on loans and credit cards.\nWomen earning little or no income can join a family member's credit account as an authorized user to help them build credit. But because authorized users are not responsible for making payments, some lenders may not weigh that account history the same as they would an account on which the consumer is a primary account holder—and that may affect the credit limits or interest rates they'd receive when applying for credit in their name.\nSimilarly, women who are widowed or divorced and who didn't have independent credit accounts during marriage can also face difficulties getting loans or credit cards on their own. END