The Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in England.
Within a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants live in properties just a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in the adjacent Scartho village. A six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off roads and walkways that previously connected them.
“This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked Serenity Colley, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.”
An Increasingly Common Pattern Across the Country
Data from official figures reveals how deep disparity often exists, sometimes over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.
The spread of poverty has led to a sharp rise in the number of places where disadvantaged and affluent people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and starkly obvious. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes very real problems for daily routines.
- School runs that ought to take 15-20 minutes turn into an sixty-minute journey.
- Reaching key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and other issues.
“People strive to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Amidst Hardship
At a local community centre, staff emphasise that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said chief executive a community leader.
Regardless of ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its residents. By contrast, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally.
Echoes Elsewhere: Stanhope in Ashford
This phenomenon is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that are in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.”
The economic divide is evident: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable homes go for about £410,000.
Residents describe a tangible sense of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan. “In this area our facilities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.”
The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and need are often awkwardly in close proximity.