A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Are Found Side by Side in England.
Within Nunsthorpe, residents live in properties just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in the adjacent Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off roads and walkways that once connected them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, 37. “It’s been like this for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.”
A Stark National Picture
Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and lack of funding have led to a situation where a majority of councils now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the nation.
The geographical widening of poverty has led to a significant rise in the number of locations where deprived and well-off people find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived areas adjoined one of the least deprived. This number rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and starkly obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic division; it causes tangible problems for daily routines.
- School runs that should take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long detour.
- Access to key amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related issues.
“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, gesturing towards the corroded barricade.
Local Bonds Amidst Hardship
Within Centre4, workers stress that support transcends addresses. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good.
Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in the country. It is closely bordered by large detached homes 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,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The financial gap is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable homes go for about £410,000.
Locals describe a tangible sense of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”
The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.