The headline / premise is wrong about fertility.
The article is pointing to a decline in fertility. However, there is no mention of the number of abortions. To get to the raw numbers abortions + stillborn should also be added to the number of births to compare their definition of fertility. Otherwise, the headline should be that there are less live births compared to 1957.
Since the author said that the number one reason is ... student loan debt ... perhaps the title should be written as “Not So Smart After all - College Student Loans Threaten America’s Future”. I can see a leftist running with this article proclaiming that it justifies excusing student loans, make college education “free”, and why we need to import more welfare dependent people.
It has nothing to do with student debt. I have a substantial amount of student debt (six figures) and I make enough to service it, own a home, and save for retirement. It has everything to do with (a) martial laws that allow a woman to financially rape a man and run of with his kids, (b) young women being told to seek a career and travel and live free (Eat, Love, Pray) and (c) to a large extent, more effective brith control that pollutes a women’s womb.