The Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.
In Nunsthorpe, residents occupy properties just a few metres from their wealthier counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that previously linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”
An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of official statistics shows the extent of disparity can run, at times over nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now have a locality classified as one of the most deprived in the nation.
The geographical widening of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines.
- The school commute that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
- Access to important amenities like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and related problems.
“People strive to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted barricade.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
At a local community centre, workers stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate boasts a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the least deprived 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.
“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The economic gap is clear: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000.
Residents describe a tangible feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with financial hardship.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and need are often awkwardly in close proximity.
