🔗 Share this article A Rising ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Deprivation Now Sit Cheek by Jowl in England. In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties only several yards from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once connected them. “It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Data from official statistics reveals the extent of disparity can run, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and lack of funding mean a majority of councils now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the country. The geographical widening of deprivation has led to a significant increase in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off people end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data. A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life. School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Access to important amenities like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is hindered. The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related problems. “You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one resident, gesturing towards the rusted barricade. Community Spirit Amidst Hardship Within a local community centre, staff stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good. Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally. Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings. “They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent homes go for about £410,000. Residents speak of a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more divided society, where wealth and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, residents live in properties only several yards from their more affluent counterparts in nearby Scartho. A six-foot-tall barricade literally divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, sealing off roads and walkways that once connected them. “It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I don’t think they’ll take it down because I don’t think they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Data from official statistics reveals the extent of disparity can run, sometimes over nothing more than a short distance of tarmac, a line of hedges or a barrier. Decades of austerity and lack of funding mean a majority of councils now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the country. The geographical widening of deprivation has led to a significant increase in the quantity of places where deprived and well-off people end up living side by side. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods adjoined one of the wealthiest. This number increased to 119 in the latest data. A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Space In Grimsby, the divide is the biggest in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a metaphorical divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life. School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an sixty-minute journey. Access to important amenities like supermarkets, schools and employment centres is hindered. The site often sees vandalism and loitering, with reports of rubbish being thrown over the wall and related problems. “You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you reside facing that,” said one resident, gesturing towards the rusted barricade. Community Spirit Amidst Hardship Within a local community centre, staff stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” explained chief executive Tracey Good. Despite ranking in the lowest 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of togetherness among its residents. Meanwhile, the neighbouring area is classified among the most prosperous 10% nationally. Echoes Elsewhere: An Estate in Kent This phenomenon is repeated across the country. The Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the most disadvantaged tenth of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the early 2000s that sit in the top 10% for employment and quality of surroundings. “They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said Phil Hockley, aged 63. “You’ll probably find a lot of people over there never even talk to each other.” The economic gap is clear: an typical family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide equivalent homes go for about £410,000. Residents speak of a palpable feeling of being overlooked. “This part of the community is neglected,” said holistic health worker Susan Riley-Nevers. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are to do with poverty.” The increase in these ‘inequality borders’ paints a picture of an ever more divided society, where wealth and need are frequently awkwardly close neighbours.