The settlement movement was a reformist social movement, beginning in the 1880s and peaking around the 1920s in England and the US, with a goal of getting the rich and poor in society to live more closely together in an interdependent community. Its main object was the establishment of "settlement houses" in poor urban areas, in which volunteer middle-class "settlement workers" would live, hoping to share knowledge and culture with, and alleviate the poverty of their low-income neighbors. In the US, by 1913 there were 413 settlements in 32 states.
The term also has a second unrelated meaning in contemporary USA, referring to independent living programs targeted towards young people who "age out" of the foster care system. The US Congress passed legislation in 1999, setting aside $140 million for independent living programs.
Read more about Settlement Movement: History, Active Settlement Houses, Historical Settlement Houses, Legacy and Impact
Famous quotes containing the words settlement and/or movement:
“[The Settlement House] must be grounded in a philosophy whose foundation is on the solidarity of the human race, a philosophy which will not waver when the race happens to be represented by a drunken woman or an idiot boy.”
—Jane Addams (1860–1935)
“A movement is only composed of people moving. To feel its warmth and motion around us is the end as well as the means.”
—Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)