A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties just several yards from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho. One six-foot-tall wall physically separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that previously linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked Serenity Colley, 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 associate with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Data from government figures reveals the extent of disparity can run, at times over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding mean a majority of councils now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the nation.
The geographical widening of deprivation has led to a sharp rise 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 areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it causes very real problems for daily routines.
- The school commute that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey.
- Access to key services like grocery stores, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult.
- The area often sees antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related issues.
“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Amidst Challenges
At a local community centre, staff stress that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said director a community leader.
Despite being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.
“They may possess larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic divide is clear: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties fetch about £410,000.
Residents describe a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan. “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 portrait of an increasingly segregated society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.