The Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In Nunsthorpe, residents occupy homes only a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once linked them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”
A Stark Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of official figures shows how deep disparity often exists, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the nation.
The spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the quantity of places where deprived and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully apparent. The wall is much more than a metaphorical divide; it causes very real problems for everyday life.
- School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long journey.
- Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.
“People strive to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, motioning at the rusted barricade.
Community Spirit Amidst Challenges
At a local community centre, staff stress that support transcends addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and sense of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and quality of surroundings.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The economic gap is evident: an average three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent homes go for about £410,000.
Residents speak of a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided society, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
