The Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Hardship Are Found Cheek by Jowl in England.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy homes only several yards from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high barricade literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that once connected them.
“This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Data from government statistics reveals the extent of disparity often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of budget cuts and underinvestment have led to a situation where a majority of local authorities now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the nation.
This spread of deprivation has led to a sharp rise in the quantity of locations where deprived and affluent residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, just 65 of the poorest neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical division; it creates tangible difficulties for daily routines.
- School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey.
- Access to important amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is hindered.
- The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other issues.
“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one resident, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Challenges
At a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
A Similar Story: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is closely bordered by spacious houses built in the 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for job prospects and living environment.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” commented a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial divide is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent homes go for about £410,000.
Residents speak of a palpable feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have slowly been taken away, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”
The rise in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a portrait of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.
