The Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Deprivation 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 more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall physically divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that previously linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, 37. “It’s been like this 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.”
A Stark National Picture
Data from government statistics reveals the extent of inequality can run, sometimes across little more than a few metres of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood classified as one of the poorest in the country.
The spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent people find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Space
In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly apparent. The barrier transcends being just a symbolic divide; it creates very real problems for daily routines.
- School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey.
- Access to important services like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
- The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other issues.
“People strive to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the corroded barricade.
Local Bonds Amidst Challenges
Within Centre4, staff stress that support does not recognise addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” said director Tracey Good.
Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a strong sense and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic divide is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side equivalent homes go for about £410,000.
Residents describe a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an increasingly divided England, where prosperity and need are often awkwardly in close proximity.
