Sometimes poverty is defined in relation to average income. For example, people may be said to be poor if their income is less than 60 per cent of the average income for the population. This is not a legitimate definition, because it is a measure of inequality rather than poverty. This is obvious if we consider the consequences of using the definition. It means that a huge pay rise for middle managers automatically throws some people into poverty, even though their income has not changed. On the other hand, the definition implies that in a society where almost everyone is starving, no one is poor.