He tells me the east of the city has always been the working class side due to Sheffield’s westerly winds. The rich bought the houses on the west, knowing the wind would blow the smoke to the east, where the steel factory workers were packed into tight terraced housing.
I’ve lived in east end parts of Sheffield for well over half my life. I’ve been in a tight terraced house for most of that time. It’s falling apart but I can’t afford to fix it up properly. I work in the west end. So people assume I’m better off than I am because of where I work or that I don’t have a job or much education because of where I live. My children have grown up with services being cut to the bone. There’s no youth clubs, even our bus services have been reduced to almost nothing so even getting to school or 6th form can add an hour to both end of their days. I don’t want to escape from my home, I want the resources that are available allocated based on need not postcode ideally.
Such an important piece. Am hesitating to click a little heart next to something that has made me feel so deeply sad. My next thought being, so what can/should we DO, feeling sad obviously isn't enough...
A really good piece. Like Andrew said, the national statistics about inequality and poverty can seem abstract at times, but good writing and individual examples really show the true picture.
Andrew highlighted the connections between years of austerity and cyclical/worsening deprivation very clearly, I thought. Sadly, the description of facilities and opportunities being closed to the people who need them most mirrors my experience in other northern cities (Leeds, Newcastle) as well.
Important coverage of issues which need to stay in the news. Keep it up.
What an interesting article. I never realised the split between leafy suburbs and poor estates followed a line between east and west and why. And so true that teachers no longer have the capacity to help pupils escape their accident of birth, however much they would like to help.
It seems a bit sweeping. How do you explain the demise of Pitsmoor and Firvale - once genteel areas as evidence by the palatial houses? Attercliffe was also pleasant. I don’t agree that schools in the East of the city have worse standards or teachers. Also many of the best newly qualified teachers are recommended for schools in these areas. Firth Park Grammar produced some phenomenally successful people; lawyers, solicitors,doctors. Also the council gave the East of Sheffield the Supertram and deliberately denied it to the West in an effort to address these inequalities. Poverty is not a problem of our time and you could argue that ignorance and hostility to poverty was worse in the past.
Hi - yet more valuable insight, thank you. Unfortunately, the underlying story is far from new - we have known for years, decades in fact, that Sheffield is blighted by a deep socio-economic divide. take any obvious indicator - of poverty, education, health, crime and so on - and the map of Sheffield looks remarkably similar. This said, it is also very definitely the case that the divide has deepened and ossified over the past decade in particular. Among the many things we have lost are the community institutions of which many, many people were members. Trade union membership has halved and is now generally prevalent only in the public sector. Similarly Tenants and Residents Associations are often a shadow of their former selves, reflecting the huge reduction in Council housing (and the parallel increase in private renting). Working men's (people's?) clubs are far fewer in number. So are youth clubs. Care services are now mainly privately provided - we used to have small army of Council home helps supporting people in all communities. In short, we have seen the stuffing knocked out of working class communities. What should be done? There is no silver bullet, far from it. Invest in early years services (reinvent Surestart, ruthlessly cut by austerity). Similarly invest in youth services. Support the voluntary and community sector, which is often the final bulwark against the ravages of poverty. Build and improve social housing. Target health improvement where it is most needed. Tackle and solve the social care crisis. Invest in neighbourhood policing. These measures, and much more besides, will be needed if we want to begin to bridge the city's divides.
Great article - really quality read. I wonder if an article could be written on the top 10 ways to rebuild a community / support your local community and draw some evidence from Germany who have great community models for reducing inequality etc.
I find the following quote bleakly poetic:
He tells me the east of the city has always been the working class side due to Sheffield’s westerly winds. The rich bought the houses on the west, knowing the wind would blow the smoke to the east, where the steel factory workers were packed into tight terraced housing.
I’ve lived in east end parts of Sheffield for well over half my life. I’ve been in a tight terraced house for most of that time. It’s falling apart but I can’t afford to fix it up properly. I work in the west end. So people assume I’m better off than I am because of where I work or that I don’t have a job or much education because of where I live. My children have grown up with services being cut to the bone. There’s no youth clubs, even our bus services have been reduced to almost nothing so even getting to school or 6th form can add an hour to both end of their days. I don’t want to escape from my home, I want the resources that are available allocated based on need not postcode ideally.
Such an important piece. Am hesitating to click a little heart next to something that has made me feel so deeply sad. My next thought being, so what can/should we DO, feeling sad obviously isn't enough...
A really good piece. Like Andrew said, the national statistics about inequality and poverty can seem abstract at times, but good writing and individual examples really show the true picture.
Andrew highlighted the connections between years of austerity and cyclical/worsening deprivation very clearly, I thought. Sadly, the description of facilities and opportunities being closed to the people who need them most mirrors my experience in other northern cities (Leeds, Newcastle) as well.
Important coverage of issues which need to stay in the news. Keep it up.
What an interesting article. I never realised the split between leafy suburbs and poor estates followed a line between east and west and why. And so true that teachers no longer have the capacity to help pupils escape their accident of birth, however much they would like to help.
It seems a bit sweeping. How do you explain the demise of Pitsmoor and Firvale - once genteel areas as evidence by the palatial houses? Attercliffe was also pleasant. I don’t agree that schools in the East of the city have worse standards or teachers. Also many of the best newly qualified teachers are recommended for schools in these areas. Firth Park Grammar produced some phenomenally successful people; lawyers, solicitors,doctors. Also the council gave the East of Sheffield the Supertram and deliberately denied it to the West in an effort to address these inequalities. Poverty is not a problem of our time and you could argue that ignorance and hostility to poverty was worse in the past.
Hi - yet more valuable insight, thank you. Unfortunately, the underlying story is far from new - we have known for years, decades in fact, that Sheffield is blighted by a deep socio-economic divide. take any obvious indicator - of poverty, education, health, crime and so on - and the map of Sheffield looks remarkably similar. This said, it is also very definitely the case that the divide has deepened and ossified over the past decade in particular. Among the many things we have lost are the community institutions of which many, many people were members. Trade union membership has halved and is now generally prevalent only in the public sector. Similarly Tenants and Residents Associations are often a shadow of their former selves, reflecting the huge reduction in Council housing (and the parallel increase in private renting). Working men's (people's?) clubs are far fewer in number. So are youth clubs. Care services are now mainly privately provided - we used to have small army of Council home helps supporting people in all communities. In short, we have seen the stuffing knocked out of working class communities. What should be done? There is no silver bullet, far from it. Invest in early years services (reinvent Surestart, ruthlessly cut by austerity). Similarly invest in youth services. Support the voluntary and community sector, which is often the final bulwark against the ravages of poverty. Build and improve social housing. Target health improvement where it is most needed. Tackle and solve the social care crisis. Invest in neighbourhood policing. These measures, and much more besides, will be needed if we want to begin to bridge the city's divides.
The Monday briefing’s property highlight is a traditional newspaper thing I know, but it jarred this week after this article on wealth inequality.
Great article - really quality read. I wonder if an article could be written on the top 10 ways to rebuild a community / support your local community and draw some evidence from Germany who have great community models for reducing inequality etc.
Thought provoking article about one of the most pressing issues of our times..entrenched inequality that's getting worse.