The Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties just a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of government figures reveals how deep disparity can run, sometimes across little more than a short distance of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country.
This geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and well-off people find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which 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 causes tangible problems for everyday life.
- School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long journey.
- Access to important amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is hindered.
- The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other problems.
“People strive to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the rusted metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
At Centre4, workers emphasise that support transcends addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.
Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The economic divide is clear: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000.
Residents describe a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.