 TITLE: Women and Credit 2021: How the Pandemic Affected Women’s Lives—and Finances CONTENT: Credit Trends in 2020: Credit Card Debt Down, Scores Up\n-------------------------------------------------------\nThe COVID-19 pandemic brought with it swift and startling economic distress. According to the Federal Reserve, employment shrank by 20 million jobs between February and May 2020. Meanwhile, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP, or the value of goods and services the country produces in a year) fell 10% in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020 alone, the biggest decrease ever recorded.\nDespite the grim global economic picture, and the difficulties many consumers faced due to lost jobs and income, Experian data shows that on average, debt dropped and credit scores grew in 2020. Credit card debt fell 14% from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020, and average credit utilization—the amount of debt individuals carry compared with their credit limit—fell 12%. Consumers also improved their payment habits: The average portion of credit accounts that were 90 to 180 days past due dropped by 53% from Q3 2019 to Q3 2020.\nSource: Experian\nPayment history and credit utilization are the two main factors in a consumer's credit score. Less debt and more on-time payments led credit scores to increase on average in 2020. The average FICO® Score rose from 703 to 710 between 2019 and 2020, a much larger increase than the average one point per year gain over the past 10 years. END