A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy properties only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall wall literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off paths and streets that once linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Data from official figures shows how deep disparity often exists, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now have a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.
The geographical widening of poverty has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of locations where deprived and affluent people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the country and starkly obvious. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes very real problems for everyday life.
- The school commute that should take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute journey.
- Reaching important services like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other issues.
“People strive to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded barricade.
Community Spirit Amidst Hardship
At Centre4, staff emphasise that need does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said director a community leader.
Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and feeling of togetherness among its residents. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods 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 might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial gap is evident: an typical three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000.
Locals speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an increasingly divided society, where prosperity and need are often uncomfortably close neighbours.
