The Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in Across England.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents occupy properties just several yards from their more affluent counterparts in the adjacent Scartho. A 1.8-metre-high wall literally separates the two communities in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them.
“It’s the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 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 mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of government figures reveals the extent of inequality can run, at times over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Years of austerity and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of councils now have a locality ranking as one of the most deprived in the nation.
This geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. Just a few years ago, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the least deprived. That figure rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space
In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and starkly obvious. The barrier transcends being just a metaphorical division; it creates tangible problems for everyday life.
- School runs that should take 15-20 minutes turn into an hour-long detour.
- Reaching important services like grocery stores, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
- The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other issues.
“People strive to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” noted one local, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship
Within Centre4, workers stress that support transcends addresses. “Your postcode doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.
Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”
The economic divide is evident: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side equivalent properties go for about £410,000.
Locals describe a tangible sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood is neglected,” stated resident Susan. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an ever more divided England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly in close proximity.