🔗 Share this article The Growing ‘Wealth-Poverty Gap’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England. In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes only a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall barricade physically divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them. “This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.” A Stark Pattern Across the Country Analysis of official figures reveals how deep disparity often exists, at times over nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Years of austerity and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the nation. The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data. A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a symbolic division; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines. School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Reaching key amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult. The area can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems. “You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the corroded barricade. Community Spirit Amidst Challenges At Centre4, workers emphasise that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good. Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings. “They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable homes go for about £410,000. Residents speak of a tangible sense of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often uncomfortably in close proximity.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes only a few metres from their more affluent neighbours in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall barricade physically divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, sealing off paths and streets that once linked them. “This is the divide between rich and poor,” said a resident, 37. “It has been there since I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll bring it down because I don’t think they’ll want to mix with us.” A Stark Pattern Across the Country Analysis of official figures reveals how deep disparity often exists, at times over nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Years of austerity and underinvestment mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the nation. The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a significant increase in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest areas bordered one of the least deprived. This number increased to 119 in the most recent data. A Wall That Does More Than Separate Space At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the most pronounced in the country and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a symbolic division; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines. School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Reaching key amenities like supermarkets, educational facilities and care homes is made more difficult. The area can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and other problems. “You try to have a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the corroded barricade. Community Spirit Amidst Challenges At Centre4, workers emphasise that support transcends postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” said chief executive Tracey Good. Despite being placed in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the least deprived 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This phenomenon is mirrored across the country. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a mid-century overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings. “They might have larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the estate, while on the other side comparable homes go for about £410,000. Residents speak of a tangible sense of neglect. “This part of the community gets ignored,” stated holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our facilities have gradually disappeared, and most of the community problems here are related to financial hardship.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often uncomfortably in close proximity.