A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties just several yards from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho village. One six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them.
“This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of government statistics shows the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of councils now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the most deprived in the nation.
The spread of poverty has coincided with a significant increase in the number of locations where deprived and affluent people end up living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space
In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and starkly obvious. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical divide; it creates tangible difficulties for everyday life.
- School runs that should take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute journey.
- Access to key amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
- The area often sees 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,” said one resident, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.
Local Bonds Amidst Challenges
Within Centre4, staff emphasise that need does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director a community leader.
Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is immediately adjacent by large houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The economic divide is evident: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent homes go for about £410,000.
Residents describe a tangible feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with financial hardship.”
The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.