A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in England.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy homes just a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high barricade physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off paths and streets that once connected them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Analysis of official statistics shows the extent of disparity often exists, at times over little more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.
This geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents end up living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the UK and starkly obvious. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical division; it creates very real problems for daily routines.
- School runs that should take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute detour.
- Access to important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
- The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and related problems.
“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.
Community Spirit Amidst Hardship
At a local community centre, workers emphasise that need transcends postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is closely bordered by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial divide is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties go for about £410,000.
Locals describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems 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 often awkwardly close neighbours.
