The Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Prosperity and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy homes just a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of government statistics reveals how deep disparity can run, at times over little more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of councils now contain a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country.
This geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off people end up living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Land
In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and starkly obvious. The barrier is much more than a symbolic division; it causes very real problems for daily routines.
- School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey.
- Reaching important amenities like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related issues.
“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 Challenges
At a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.
Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial divide is clear: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable homes go for about £410,000.
Locals describe a tangible sense of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an ever more divided society, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.