A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Are Found Side by Side in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy properties just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of government figures reveals how deep inequality can run, sometimes over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now contain a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.
This spread of deprivation has led to a sharp rise in the number of places where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the UK and starkly apparent. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines.
- School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute detour.
- Access to important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
- The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being thrown over the wall and other problems.
“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Amidst Hardship
At Centre4, staff emphasise that need transcends postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.
Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford
This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic divide is clear: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent homes go for about £410,000.
Residents describe a tangible feeling of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an increasingly divided England, where wealth and need are often uncomfortably close neighbours.
