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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/02/poor-swimming-pool-uk-class-divide-housing-rich-residents
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| No poor people in the swimming pool – another sign of the UK’s growing class divide | No poor people in the swimming pool – another sign of the UK’s growing class divide |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Different doors. Different schools. Same housing block. London and other big cities struggling to fight gentrification are becoming increasingly segregated at a very micro level. This type of cheek-by-jowl social segregation is giving birth to new and old forms of class antagonism. | Different doors. Different schools. Same housing block. London and other big cities struggling to fight gentrification are becoming increasingly segregated at a very micro level. This type of cheek-by-jowl social segregation is giving birth to new and old forms of class antagonism. |
| In a new housing development, the Royal Wharf in the London borough of Newham, affordable housing residents have been told they won’t be able to use a luxury swimming pool or gymnasium. Instead, use of the pool and gym will be exclusive to private owners and renters. There’s one rule for the rich and one for the poor. Unsurprisingly the move has caused uproar among residents, with one saying, “We don’t know why we are being segregated” – I hate to break it to you but it’s because you’re not the type that those buying the £1.2m flats want to share a swimming pool with. Or at least that’s what the developers have decided. | In a new housing development, the Royal Wharf in the London borough of Newham, affordable housing residents have been told they won’t be able to use a luxury swimming pool or gymnasium. Instead, use of the pool and gym will be exclusive to private owners and renters. There’s one rule for the rich and one for the poor. Unsurprisingly the move has caused uproar among residents, with one saying, “We don’t know why we are being segregated” – I hate to break it to you but it’s because you’re not the type that those buying the £1.2m flats want to share a swimming pool with. Or at least that’s what the developers have decided. |
| This social segregation comes after complaints about so-called “poor doors”. In London, this included protests outside 1 Commercial Street, where luxury apartments went for £3-4m and the rich entered via a concierge at the front while affordable-rent tenants walked down a rubbish-filled dark alley at the back. People – no matter their class status – have feelings, and when you have to enter a building by a route visibly worse than that used by richer residents it can affect your sense of self. When society says you are unworthy, you begin to feel unworthy too. | This social segregation comes after complaints about so-called “poor doors”. In London, this included protests outside 1 Commercial Street, where luxury apartments went for £3-4m and the rich entered via a concierge at the front while affordable-rent tenants walked down a rubbish-filled dark alley at the back. People – no matter their class status – have feelings, and when you have to enter a building by a route visibly worse than that used by richer residents it can affect your sense of self. When society says you are unworthy, you begin to feel unworthy too. |
| Of course it’s not just private developers – it’s schools too. A report from The Challenge warned that schools are becoming increasingly segregated by class, with one-third of primary and one-quarter of secondary schools segregated along socio-economic lines. Class segregation is being bred in the classroom. Going back to the new development in Newham, it’s safe to assume that those buying the properties at the £1m range won’t be sending their kids to the same local state schools as those living in affordable housing. While the children of rich and poor families will grow up under the same roof, they will lead parallel lives. | Of course it’s not just private developers – it’s schools too. A report from The Challenge warned that schools are becoming increasingly segregated by class, with one-third of primary and one-quarter of secondary schools segregated along socio-economic lines. Class segregation is being bred in the classroom. Going back to the new development in Newham, it’s safe to assume that those buying the properties at the £1m range won’t be sending their kids to the same local state schools as those living in affordable housing. While the children of rich and poor families will grow up under the same roof, they will lead parallel lives. |
| We probably shouldn’t be surprised by this institutionalised class stratification. While the Tories like to tell us that income inequality has declined, the UK has a very visible, and growing, gap. Homelessness is now impossible to ignore and while median incomes have fallen in real terms in the past decade, the wealth of the richest 1,000 individuals has more than doubled. What’s more, the economy is producing more jobs at either extreme, while middle-earning jobs are dwindling. The end result is a growing divide between the haves and have-nots and all the baggage that comes with that. | We probably shouldn’t be surprised by this institutionalised class stratification. While the Tories like to tell us that income inequality has declined, the UK has a very visible, and growing, gap. Homelessness is now impossible to ignore and while median incomes have fallen in real terms in the past decade, the wealth of the richest 1,000 individuals has more than doubled. What’s more, the economy is producing more jobs at either extreme, while middle-earning jobs are dwindling. The end result is a growing divide between the haves and have-nots and all the baggage that comes with that. |
| The chancellor Philip Hammond’s use of the word “strivers” during his budget speech is a reminder of how income and wealth differences have been justified in our national psyche in recent years. Those without money are “skivers” – they’ve been lazy. Alternatively, you’re a “striver” – someone working hard to get ahead. Never mind that the biggest determinants of “success” in life remain the wealth of your parents and the place of your birth. | The chancellor Philip Hammond’s use of the word “strivers” during his budget speech is a reminder of how income and wealth differences have been justified in our national psyche in recent years. Those without money are “skivers” – they’ve been lazy. Alternatively, you’re a “striver” – someone working hard to get ahead. Never mind that the biggest determinants of “success” in life remain the wealth of your parents and the place of your birth. |
| Some years ago while interviewing both rich and poor residents of Islington, I was shocked by the levels of distrust and bitterness that went both ways – poorer residents complained about being looked down upon, while richer residents spoke about their fear of walking past housing estates at night. These problems have real consequences. And of course, you cannot think about class and housing without mentioning the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower where many, including surviving residents, believe class prejudice played into officials not listening or acting on concerns about safety. | Some years ago while interviewing both rich and poor residents of Islington, I was shocked by the levels of distrust and bitterness that went both ways – poorer residents complained about being looked down upon, while richer residents spoke about their fear of walking past housing estates at night. These problems have real consequences. And of course, you cannot think about class and housing without mentioning the horrific fire at Grenfell Tower where many, including surviving residents, believe class prejudice played into officials not listening or acting on concerns about safety. |
| What’s the alternative? Tell developers they don’t have to build any affordable housing? Build separate blocks for those who can’t afford the market price? Most of us would agree that we don’t want to live in a Paris-style “doughnut” where the poor are pushed to the outskirts of the city: that’s why Sadiq Khan and local authorities insist that a certain percentage of flats in new developments be affordable. However, mixed communities don’t sit well in an environment that tells you that people on lower incomes are lazy and stupid. | |
| George Orwell once wrote: “Your snobbishness, unless you persistently root it out like the bindweed it is, sticks by you until the grave.” We need to change more than just our house prices; we need to change our attitudes. | George Orwell once wrote: “Your snobbishness, unless you persistently root it out like the bindweed it is, sticks by you until the grave.” We need to change more than just our house prices; we need to change our attitudes. |
| • Faiza Shaheen is the director of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies and Labour PPC for Chingford & Woodford Green | • Faiza Shaheen is the director of the Centre for Labour and Social Studies and Labour PPC for Chingford & Woodford Green |
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