A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes just several yards from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall barricade physically divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously connected them.
“This is the posh-poor divide,” said a resident, 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 Pattern Across the Country
Analysis of government statistics reveals how deep disparity often exists, sometimes across nothing more than a short distance of asphalt, a hedge row or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding mean almost two-thirds of local authorities now have a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country.
The geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the number of places where deprived and well-off people find themselves living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the poorest areas adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Space
At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully apparent. The wall transcends being just a symbolic divide; it causes tangible difficulties for everyday life.
- The school commute that should take 15-20 minutes become an sixty-minute journey.
- Access to key amenities like grocery stores, schools and care homes is made more difficult.
- The area can attract antisocial behaviour, with instances of rubbish being dumped over the wall and other issues.
“You try to maintain a nice house and nice garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one resident, motioning at the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Amidst Hardship
At a local community centre, workers stress that support transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director Tracey Good.
Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate boasts a fierce loyalty and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. By contrast, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.
Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and living environment.
“They may possess bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.”
The financial divide is evident: an average three-bedroom house costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent homes fetch about £410,000.
Residents speak of a tangible feeling of neglect. “This part of the community is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are related to poverty.”
The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ presents a picture of an increasingly divided England, where wealth and deprivation are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.