The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in homes only several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. One six-foot-tall barricade literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that previously linked them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this 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
Data from official statistics shows the extent of disparity can run, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the nation.
This spread of poverty has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully apparent. The wall is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates tangible problems for daily routines.
- School runs that should take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute detour.
- Access to key amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
- The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and other issues.
“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
Within a local community centre, staff emphasise that support transcends addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained director a community leader.
Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial gap is clear: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent homes go for about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an ever more divided England, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.