The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties just several yards from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho village. One six-foot-tall barricade physically separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off paths and streets that previously linked them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of official statistics reveals how deep disparity often exists, at times across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.
The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The wall is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life.
- The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes become an hour-long journey.
- Access to important amenities like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems.
“You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one resident, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
At Centre4, workers emphasise that need transcends addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic divide is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.
Locals speak of a palpable feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an increasingly divided society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
