Scunthorpe and the economics of being left behind
I’ve lived in Scunthorpe my whole life. I went to school here, grew up here, and all my early experiences of work, money and opportunity were shaped by this town. When I was 17, I was given the opportunity to move to a boarding school in Devon because of my swimming achievements. It was a huge change and it made something obvious very quickly: the gap between places like Scunthorpe and places with wealth and investment is not subtle. It changes everything, from confidence to education to the kind of future you think is realistic. At that school, people would sometimes ask why I lived in Scunthorpe if it was “that bad”. The honest answer is that most people do not choose where they grow up. But that question stuck with me because it exposed how easily people misunderstand regional inequality. If you grow up in a wealthy area, it is easy to assume opportunity is universal and that outcomes are mostly about effort. If you grow up somewhere that has been economically neglected, you quickly learn that effort is not always rewarded in the same way. I’m now 21 and studying Economics at a Russell Group university, which is still relatively uncommon for people from towns like Scunthorpe. When I come home, I notice something that is not about intelligence or ambition, but about exposure. Many people around me have never been taught the economic language to describe what is happening to their lives. They know things feel hard, but they do not always have the words for concepts like wage stagnation, underinvestment or labour market decline. And in some ways, Scunthorpe feels like it is stuck in a permanent version of what the rest of the country only notices during a crisis. So why has Scunthorpe ended up like this, and what does it mean economically for young people growing up here?
Deindustrialisation: when the main employer disappears
Scunthorpe is often linked to steel, and for a long time industry supported the town’s jobs, incomes and identity. But like many places in the North, deindustrialisation hit hard. Deindustrialisation means an economy shifts away from manufacturing and heavy industry, often because of global competition, automation, and policy choices. When factories downsize or close, the obvious loss is jobs. The less obvious loss is everything built around those jobs. Local spending falls, businesses lose customers, and opportunities shrink for young people. Even when the economy grows nationally, towns like this can be left behind because the growth happens in different sectors and different regions.
Underinvestment: the quiet reason nothing replaces those jobs
A major issue is investment, both private and public. Investment means spending money now to create future economic value, such as new businesses, infrastructure, training or services. In areas like Scunthorpe, private investment is limited because firms often prefer to locate where there are already clusters of jobs, skills and transport links. Public investment can fill that gap, but in many areas it has not been enough. When public services are underfunded and there is no strong pipeline of new industries, the local economy becomes less able to absorb school leavers into stable work. This creates a low opportunity environment where the town struggles to rebuild momentum.
Wage stagnation and insecure work
Even when people find jobs, the quality of work matters. Wage stagnation means wages do not rise much over time, especially once inflation is taken into account. Underemployment means people are working in jobs that do not use their skills, or they cannot get enough hours, or they are stuck in insecure work. In many towns like Scunthorpe, employment can exist without a clear progression ladder. That changes behaviour. People become less likely to invest in training, less likely to take risks, and more likely to feel stuck. This is not because people lack ambition, but because the labour market offers limited returns to effort.
Transport and mobility: when opportunity is geographically locked
Mobility is a big part of opportunity. In economics, mobility can mean both social mobility and geographic mobility. In places with weak transport links, opportunities can feel physically out of reach. If public transport is unreliable, people become dependent on cars, which are expensive to buy, run and insure. Moving away is not always financially realistic either, especially for families with low savings. This creates a trap where people can see better opportunities elsewhere but cannot easily access them.
What are the consequences of this environment?
A key point is that when an economy provides limited opportunity, it shapes how people think about themselves. This is one of the most overlooked effects of regional inequality. The result is that young people can grow up believing they are the problem, when actually the environment around them is structurally limiting. And this is where comparisons become uncomfortable. When I moved from a state school in Scunthorpe to a private school in Devon, the difference was not raw intelligence. It was resources, expectations, and networks. It made me realise how much potential is lost simply because of postcode. That is not just unfair on individuals. It is economically inefficient.
Brain drain: the town losing its most mobile people
One economic consequence is brain drain. Brain drain means talented, ambitious or highly educated people leave an area and do not return. This is not because they hate their hometown. It is because opportunities for graduate level work, progression, and stability are limited. When the most academically successful young people leave, the local economy loses human capital. Human capital means skills, knowledge and qualifications that improve productivity. Over time, brain drain makes it harder for the town to attract investment and rebuild, because the workforce becomes less specialised and the local spending base shrinks further.
Intergenerational poverty: when disadvantage becomes a cycle
Another consequence is intergenerational poverty. This is when low income and low opportunity persist across generations. If parents struggled to find stable work, children often grow up with fewer resources, fewer connections, and fewer safety nets. This is not a story about laziness. It is a story about constraints. When people lack access to networks, capital and good local jobs, poverty can become a predictable outcome rather than a personal failure.
Mental health and economic hopelessness
Economic environment affects wellbeing. When you grow up surrounded by limited job prospects and constant financial stress, anxiety and hopelessness can become normalised. This is not just an individual problem, it is a social outcome of an economy that does not provide security or clear routes to progression.
The loss of belief in education and effort
In areas where people work hard but see little return, trust in systems breaks down. People stop believing education will change their life. They stop trusting the job market. They stop believing politics makes a difference. Economically, this matters because it reduces investment in skills and lowers participation. Once a community loses confidence in mobility, the cycle becomes harder to break.
Why places like Scunthorpe should be part of economic conversations
When people talk about inequality, regional development or “levelling up”, it often becomes abstract. But these topics are not abstract when you are living inside them. I’m studying economics partly because I want to understand why towns like Scunthorpe end up stuck, and what policies might actually change that. Economics is not just about numbers. It is about people’s lives, their choices, and the options available to them. If we want a stronger economy and a fairer country, we cannot ignore places that have been economically left behind.
Final thought
I am not writing this as someone who looks down on where I came from. I’m writing it because people deserve to understand the forces shaping their lives and communities, and because opportunity should not depend so heavily on postcode. If you have a similar story or experience you think deserves to be heard, feel free to get in touch.
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