A Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties just a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Data from official figures reveals the extent of inequality can run, at times across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now have a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country.
The spread of poverty has coincided with a sharp rise in the quantity of locations where deprived and affluent people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the wealthiest. This number rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life.
- School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute detour.
- Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered.
- The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of litter being dumped over the wall and related issues.
“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, motioning at the rusted barricade.
Local Bonds Amidst Hardship
At a local community centre, workers emphasise that support transcends postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained director Tracey Good.
Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford
This pattern is repeated across the country. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and living environment.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic gap is clear: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000.
Locals describe a palpable sense of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an ever more divided society, where wealth and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
