🔗 Share this article A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Prosperity and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in Across England. Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy homes only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them. “This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Analysis of government statistics reveals how deep disparity can run, sometimes across little more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country. The spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of places where deprived and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines. The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour. Reaching important services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered. The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related problems. “You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall. Local Bonds Amidst Hardship At a local community centre, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good. Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall. Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment 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 never even talk to each other.” The financial gap is evident: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000. Residents describe a tangible sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy homes only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them. “This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Analysis of government statistics reveals how deep disparity can run, sometimes across little more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the country. The spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of places where deprived and well-off people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Does More Than Separate Land In Grimsby, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real difficulties for daily routines. The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour. Reaching important services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered. The area often sees vandalism and loitering, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and related problems. “You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted metal wall. Local Bonds Amidst Hardship At a local community centre, workers stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained director Tracey Good. Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall. Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment 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 never even talk to each other.” The financial gap is evident: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide comparable properties fetch about £410,000. Residents describe a tangible sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.