🔗 Share this article The Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Are Found Side by Side in Across England. In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy homes only a few metres from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high wall physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off paths and streets that previously linked them. “This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Analysis of government statistics reveals the extent of disparity often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding mean a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country. This geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and affluent residents find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data. A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life. School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey. Access to key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered. The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter 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, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship At a local community centre, workers stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director a community leader. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment. “They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The economic divide is clear: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable properties go for about £410,000. Residents speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.” The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often uncomfortably close neighbours.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy homes only a few metres from their wealthier counterparts in nearby Scartho village. One 1.8-metre-high wall physically divides the two areas in the town of Grimsby, blocking off paths and streets that previously linked them. “This is the posh-poor divide,” remarked a resident, 37. “It has been there for as long as I’ve known. I doubt they’ll take it down because I suspect they’ll want to associate with us.” An Increasingly Common National Picture Analysis of government statistics reveals the extent of disparity often exists, at times over nothing more than a few metres of asphalt, a line of hedges or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding mean a majority of councils now contain a neighbourhood ranking as one of the poorest in the country. This geographical widening of deprivation has coincided with a sharp rise in the quantity of locations where disadvantaged and affluent residents find themselves living side by side. Just a few years ago, just 65 of the most deprived areas bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the latest data. A Barrier Which Does More Than Separate Land At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the UK and painfully obvious. The wall is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates very real problems for everyday life. School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour turn into an hour-long journey. Access to key services like supermarkets, educational facilities and employment centres is hindered. The site can attract antisocial behaviour, with reports of litter 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, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall. Local Bonds Against a Backdrop of Hardship At a local community centre, workers stress that need does not recognise postcodes. “Your postcode is not a reliable indicator of your level of challenge,” said director a community leader. Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for multiple deprivation indicators, Nunsthorpe boasts a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its inhabitants. By contrast, the neighbouring area ranks among the most prosperous 10% nationally. A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford This pattern is repeated nationally. The Stanhope estate in Kent, a 1960s overspill estate, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is immediately adjacent by spacious houses built in the 2000s that are in the wealthiest tenth for employment and living environment. “They may possess larger properties, but here there’s a stronger community,” commented Phil Hockley, 63. “It’s likely many people in the new builds never even talk to each other.” The economic divide is clear: an average family home costs about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while across the divide comparable properties go for about £410,000. Residents speak of a palpable sense of neglect. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” stated resident Susan. “Over here our facilities have gradually disappeared, and the majority of the community problems here are related to poverty.” The rise in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a portrait of an ever more segregated England, where prosperity and deprivation are often uncomfortably close neighbours.