 TITLE: Credit Card Debt in 2020: Balances Drop for the First Time in Eight Years CONTENT: All Generations Reduce Balances\n-------------------------------\nThough members of all generations have credit cards, each age group uses them differently. Members of younger generations (such as millennials and Generation Z) typically carry lower balances and have lower credit limits—and as a result, utilize more of their available balance. Older generations (such as the silent generation and baby boomers) are the opposite, carrying higher balances on cards with high credit limits—and have lower utilization.\nMembers of older generations decreased their debt at a higher rate than younger Americans in 2020. The silent generation, which includes Americans age 75 years and older, saw their average credit card debt decrease the most, shrinking 16% in 2020, according to Experian data. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Gen Z adults—Americans ages 18 to 23—only saw a 6% decrease during the same period.\nSource: Experian\nThough members of older generations cut a larger share of their credit card debt in 2020, the younger generations had greater reduction in credit utilization by paying down their balances. Members of Generation Z dropped their average utilization rate by 4.7 percentage points—three times as much as members of the silent generation. While older Americans have lower utilization overall, they also have much higher credit limits.\nSource: Experian\nYounger generations also differed from their older counterparts in how their average credit limit changed over the past year. In 2020, millennials and members of Gen Z saw their average credit limit grow by 2% and 10%, respectively. The silent generation, baby boomers and members of Generation X all saw their average credit limits decrease in the past year.\nSource: Experian END