The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy homes only several yards from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off paths and streets that previously connected them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of government figures shows the extent of disparity often exists, at times across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the nation.
This geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a significant rise in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off people end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and painfully obvious. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes tangible difficulties for daily routines.
- The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute detour.
- Reaching key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related 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 Amidst Challenges
Within a local community centre, staff stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good.
Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s 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 may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The financial divide is evident: an average three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.
Residents describe a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”
The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided society, where wealth and need are often awkwardly in close proximity.
