The Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A six-foot-tall wall literally separates the two areas in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously 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 doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of official statistics reveals the extent of inequality often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Years of budget cuts and underinvestment mean a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the most deprived in the country.
This geographical widening of deprivation has led to a sharp increase in the number of places where deprived and affluent people end up living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully obvious. The wall transcends being just a metaphorical division; it creates very real problems for daily routines.
- School runs that should take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long detour.
- Reaching important services like supermarkets, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
- The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being thrown over the wall and other issues.
“You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted barricade.
Community Spirit Amidst Challenges
At Centre4, staff emphasise that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive a community leader.
Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon 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 detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The financial divide is evident: an average family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000.
Locals speak of a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said resident Susan. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
