<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (March 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (March 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in England and the US . Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and social interconnectedness . 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 . The "settlement houses" provided services such as daycare, education, and healthcare to improve the lives of the poor in these areas . </P> <P> The movement started in London in 1884 with the founding of Toynbee Hall . These houses, radically different from those in America, often offered food, shelter, and basic and higher education, provided by virtue of charity on part of wealthy donors, the residents of the city, and (for education) scholars who volunteered their time . </P>

Settlement houses in the united states and england