A Rising ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: How Prosperity and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in properties only several yards from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho. One 1.8-metre-high wall literally divides the two communities in the town of Grimsby, sealing off paths and streets that previously linked them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common National Picture
Analysis of official figures shows how deep inequality can run, sometimes over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean a majority of local authorities now have a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.
This geographical widening of deprivation has led to a sharp rise in the number of places where deprived and well-off residents end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the most recent data.
A Wall That Divides More Than Land
In Grimsby, the gap is the biggest in the country and starkly obvious. The barrier is much more than a symbolic division; it creates tangible problems for everyday life.
- School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an sixty-minute journey.
- Access to key amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
- The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other problems.
“You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one resident, gesturing towards the rusted barricade.
Local Bonds Amidst Challenges
Within a local community centre, workers stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good.
Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area ranks among the least deprived 10% overall.
A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford
This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of areas in England. It is closely bordered by large houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people over there never even talk to each other.”
The financial gap is evident: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable homes fetch about £410,000.
Locals describe a tangible sense of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” said resident Susan. “Over here our facilities have slowly been taken away, and most of the community problems here are to do with poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an ever more segregated society, where prosperity and deprivation are often awkwardly close neighbours.
