square peg

新型コロナウィルス感染拡大の第2波がヨーロッパで見られていますが、パリやロンドンでは都市封鎖（ロックダウン）が計画され、経済への影響も避けられない模様です。


少し引用が長くなりますが、イギリスにおけるロックダウンと経済支援策に関する記事を読んでみて下さい。


The Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have urged the government to halt a planned cut in Universal Credit support payments to thousands of self-employed.

A second lockdown will leave thousands of UK self-employed in the lurch, according to the FSB and TUC.

Prime minister Boris Johnson on Saturday announced a host of new measures aimed at curtailing the rising number of COVID-19 infections, including a four-week England lockdown from 5 November until 2 December.


（中略）


Johnson also announced that the furlough scheme, also known as the coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, has been extended until December, as the UK economy braces for a second lockdown in England due to start on Thursday.

This means that the government will continue paying up to 80% for the wages of employees whose businesses were forced to close.

Currently the self-employed can claim just 40% of their earnings, compared to 80% for employees through the extended furlough scheme.

UK’s trade and small firms bodies have written a joint letter to the Work and Pensions secretary, Thérèse Coffey, raising “serious concerns” over the benefit cut for those seeking to earn a living by starting and growing their own business.

FSB National Chairman Mike Cherry said: “Universal Credit was never designed around the self-employed, who often feel like square pegs forced into round holes.
(UK trade unions and small firms join forces to prevent benefits cut for self-employed. Yahoo! Finance. November 2, 2020.)


ロックダウンの影響を受ける労働者に対する経済支援がイギリスにもありますが、被雇用者に対しては収入の8割が補償されるのに対し、自営業者（self-employed）に対しては、4割しか補償されず、格差があります。


引用記事の最後の部分で、


the self-employed, who often feel like square pegs forced into round holes


という箇所がありますが、“square peg in round hole”という表現は不適合とか適任でない、といった概念を意味する慣用句です。


丸い穴にはそれにフィットする丸い軸を持つペグがぴったりと合うのが当たり前で、丸い穴に四角いペグは不適合の比喩となる訳です。


要は、ハマらない、フィットしない、ということですね。


この表現は職業選択、雇用や就職といったコンテクストで使われることが多いです。


In general terms, job hunters fall into one of two buckets. They are either a round peg in a round hole or a square peg in a round hole. While they aren’t literally a peg, I think speaking metaphorically helps folks understand how to not only market themselves.

Let me explain.

Round peg/round hole occurs when pursuing opportunities doing the same sort of work while remaining in your current industry.

From an employer’s standpoint, round pegs represent a ‘safer’ move, since the candidate already has direct experience in both the job functions and the industry.
(Randy Wooden. Wooden: Are you a round peg or a square peg? Winston-Salem Journal. April 25, 2020.)


上記に引用した記事は転職をテーマに話しているようですが、募集されている職種（ポジション）に対して適合するか（a round peg in a round hole）、否か（a square peg in a round hole）は重要でしょう。日本語で言う「適材適所」と言い換えても良いかも知れません。
さて、最初の引用記事での用例に戻りますと、


the self-employed, who often feel like square pegs forced into round holes


ですが、“forced”とあるのに注意が必要かと思われます。


記事には明確な説明が無いのですが、自営業者の立場として、好き好んで自営業者をやっているのではなく、已む無く・・・、というようにも読めます。（コロナ禍で勤め先を辞めて自ら新たにビジネスを立ち上げた、という人たちもいるということを言っているのかも。）