A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in England.
In Nunsthorpe, residents live in homes just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, 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.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of official statistics reveals the extent of inequality can run, at times across nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.
The spread of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents end up living side by side. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly obvious. The wall is much more than a metaphorical division; it creates tangible difficulties for daily routines.
- School runs that should take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey.
- Reaching key amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.
“You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite 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 need transcends postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good.
Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of community among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is closely bordered by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial gap is clear: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable homes fetch about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided society, where prosperity and need are often uncomfortably in close proximity.
