🔗 Share this article A Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: How Prosperity and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in England. In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes just a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously linked them. “This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Data from government statistics shows the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding mean a majority of councils now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country. This spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of places where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Divides More Than Space At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical division; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines. The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Reaching key amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered. The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and related problems. “You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the rusted barricade. Community Spirit Amidst Challenges At a local community centre, workers stress that need transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader. Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall. Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and living environment. “They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.” The financial gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000. Locals describe a tangible feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.” The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an increasingly segregated society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.
In Nunsthorpe, inhabitants live in homes just a few metres from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall wall physically divides the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that previously linked them. “This is the divide between rich and poor,” remarked a resident, aged 37. “It’s been like this since I’ve known. I doubt they’ll bring it down because I suspect they’ll want to mix with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Data from government statistics shows the extent of inequality often exists, sometimes across little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Decades of austerity and lack of funding mean a majority of councils now have a locality classified as one of the poorest in the country. This spread of deprivation has coincided with a sharp increase in the number of places where disadvantaged and affluent residents end up living side by side. In 2019, just 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure rose to 119 in the latest data. A Wall That Divides More Than Space At this Lincolnshire site, the divide is the biggest in the country and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a metaphorical division; it causes very real difficulties for daily routines. The school commute that should take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Reaching key amenities like grocery stores, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered. The site can attract vandalism and loitering, with reports of litter being dumped over the wall and related problems. “You try to maintain a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” noted one local, motioning at the rusted barricade. Community Spirit Amidst Challenges At a local community centre, workers stress that need transcends addresses. “Where you live is not a reliable indicator of your personal struggles,” explained chief executive a community leader. Regardless of ranking in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, Nunsthorpe boasts a strong sense and sense of togetherness among its inhabitants. Meanwhile, Scartho is classified among the most prosperous 10% overall. Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent This pattern is mirrored nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in the country. It is immediately adjacent by spacious detached homes built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and living environment. “They might have bigger houses, but here there’s a stronger community,” said a long-term resident, 63. “You’ll probably find many people in the new builds don’t even speak to each other.” The financial gap is clear: an typical three-bedroom house sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent properties go for about £410,000. Locals describe a tangible feeling of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan Riley-Nevers. “In this area our amenities have slowly been taken away, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.” The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ paints a picture of an increasingly segregated society, where wealth and deprivation are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.