The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Side by Side in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in homes just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in nearby 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.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 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 National Picture
Data from government statistics reveals the extent of inequality can run, at times over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the poorest in the nation.
This spread of poverty has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of places where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods 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 country and starkly apparent. The wall transcends being just a symbolic division; it creates very real problems for daily routines.
- School runs that should take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey.
- Access to key amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related problems.
“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice 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, staff stress that need transcends postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “It’s likely many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic divide is clear: 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 palpable feeling of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” said resident Susan. “In this area our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are related to financial hardship.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an ever more divided England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably in close proximity.
