A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in Across England.
Within Nunsthorpe, inhabitants occupy homes only a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho village. A six-foot-tall barricade physically separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once linked them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there since 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
Analysis of government statistics reveals the extent of inequality can run, sometimes across nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country.
This geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the least deprived. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space
In Grimsby, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates tangible problems for daily routines.
- School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long detour.
- Reaching important amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered.
- The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.
“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, motioning at the rusted barricade.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
At a local community centre, workers emphasise that support does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your personal struggles,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Regardless of being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of community among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the top 10% for job prospects and living environment.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial divide is evident: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while across the divide equivalent homes fetch about £410,000.
Locals describe a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an ever more divided society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.
