The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in homes just a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once connected them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Data from government statistics shows how deep inequality can run, at times across nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.
This geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a significant rise in the number of locations where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space
In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly apparent. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines.
- The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour.
- Access to key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with instances of litter being dumped over the wall and related problems.
“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
At Centre4, workers stress that need transcends addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.
Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The financial gap is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000.
Locals speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an ever more divided England, where wealth and deprivation are often uncomfortably in close proximity.
