A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy homes only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade physically divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that previously connected them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Data from government figures shows how deep disparity can run, at times over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.
This spread of poverty has led to a significant increase in the number of places where disadvantaged and well-off residents end up living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic division; it causes tangible problems for everyday life.
- The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey.
- Access to important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of litter being dumped over the wall and related problems.
“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Community Spirit Amidst Hardship
Within a local community centre, staff emphasise that support does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained director a community leader.
Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and quality of surroundings.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find many people over there never even talk to each other.”
The economic gap is evident: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable homes go for about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
