A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A 1.8-metre-high barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once connected them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of government figures shows the extent of disparity can run, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment mean a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.
The spread of poverty has led to a significant increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space
In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical division; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines.
- The school commute that should take 15-20 minutes become an hour-long journey.
- Reaching key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems.
“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded barricade.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
Within a local community centre, workers emphasise that support transcends addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford
This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial divide is evident: an average three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent homes fetch about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.