The "Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements" by Jane Addams is an essay that is to capture a lecture she delivered in Plymouth. She is reflecting on an opportunity that she had one summer to discuss the new settlement movements with other settlement leaders. One natural leader of the group was Robert A. Woods (whom after residing in Toynbee Hall, in London, came to the United States to start Andover House in Boston), Miss Vida D. Scudder and Miss Helena Dudley of the College Settlement Association, Miss Julia C. Lathrop and Jane Addams from Hull-House. They were all individuals that were very passionate about social development, and how to make it better.
Addams recognizes a key problem in the United States at this time was that young people were pursuing higher education and when they went out into the real world they were not able to find jobs in the areas that they wanted. Addams said, "In an attempt then to give a girl pleasure and freedom from care we succeed, for the most part, in making her pitifully miserable" (119). Life turns out to be different than she thought it would be after she graduated. She has learned so much and yet she can not find a job to help her branch out on her own. These girls have the advantage of just graduating from college, many of them have traveled in Europe, and have studied economy, but when they go out into the real world they do not stand up. They have no where to go so some student go back to school to get second degrees just so they have something to do that is stable in their life. This was a cause from their upbringing. From a very young age to help others, and therefore when they went on in life to go on and peruse a life of helping others no ...