The Growing ‘Posh-Poor Divide’: The Way Affluence and Hardship Now Sit Side by Side in England.
In a postwar estate known as ‘The Nunny’, inhabitants occupy homes only a few metres from their wealthier neighbours in nearby Scartho village. One six-foot-tall wall physically separates the two communities in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, blocking off roads and walkways that once connected them.
“It’s the posh-poor divide,” said Serenity Colley, aged 37. “It has been there 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
Analysis of government statistics shows how deep inequality often exists, at times over little more than a few metres of tarmac, a hedge row or a wall. Years of budget cuts and lack of funding have led to a situation where almost two-thirds of councils now contain a locality ranking as one of the poorest in the nation.
This spread of poverty has coincided with a sharp increase in the quantity of places where disadvantaged and well-off residents find themselves as immediate neighbours. In 2019, only 65 of the most deprived neighbourhoods bordered one of the wealthiest. That figure increased to 119 in the most recent data.
A Barrier Which Divides More Than Land
At this Lincolnshire site, the gap is the most pronounced in the country and painfully apparent. The barrier is much more than a symbolic divide; it creates tangible problems for everyday life.
- School runs that ought to take a quarter of an hour become an hour-long journey.
- Reaching key services like grocery stores, schools and employment centres is made more difficult.
- The site often sees antisocial behaviour, with instances of litter being dumped over the wall and related problems.
“You try to have a well-kept home and garden, and then you live opposite that,” said one local, gesturing towards the corroded metal wall.
Local Bonds Amidst Challenges
Within Centre4, staff stress that support does not recognise postcodes. “Where you live doesn’t necessarily indicate your level of challenge,” explained director Tracey Good.
Regardless of being placed in the most deprived 10% for income, employment, education, health and crime, the estate retains a fierce loyalty and feeling of community among its residents. Meanwhile, Scartho ranks among the most prosperous 10% overall.
A Similar Story: Stanhope in Ashford
This phenomenon is repeated nationally. The Stanhope area in Ashford, Kent, a 1960s housing development, is in the 10% most deprived of neighbourhoods in England. It is closely bordered by large detached homes built in the 2000s that sit in the wealthiest tenth for employment and quality of surroundings.
“They might have larger properties, but here there’s more community,” said a long-term resident, aged 63. “You’ll probably find many people over there don’t even speak to each other.”
The economic gap is evident: an typical family home sells for about £275,000 on the Stanhope estate, while on the other side comparable homes fetch about £410,000.
Residents speak of a palpable sense of being overlooked. “Our neighbourhood gets ignored,” said holistic health worker Susan. “Over here our amenities have gradually disappeared, and most of the issues we face here are to do with poverty.”
The increase in these ‘deprivation divides’ presents a picture of an increasingly segregated England, where wealth and need are frequently uncomfortably close neighbours.