Starting dates of jobs and businesses are collected and edited differently between the 2008 and 2018 panels.

2008 Panel

For jobs and/or businesses that began during the reference period of a 2008 panel wave, respondents were asked the starting month and day.  For jobs and/or businesses that were ongoing at the start of a 2008 panel wave, all respondents were asked the starting year.  Respondents were subsequently asked additional information about the starting date based on that starting year.  Respondents were asked both the starting month and the starting day for jobs and/or businesses beginning during the year of the interview.  Respondents were only asked the starting month for jobs and/or businesses beginning one or two years prior to the interview.  Respondents were asked no further questions about the starting date for jobs and/or businesses beginning three or more years prior to the interview.  After imputing missing information, all information about starting dates was concatenated into one variable per job (TSJDATE1/2) or business (TSBDATE1/2).

2018 Panel

By contrast, respondents are asked the starting month and week for jobs and/or businesses that began during the reference period of a 2018 panel wave.  For jobs and/or businesses that were ongoing at the start of the 2018 panel, respondents are asked only the starting month and year.  For returning sample members with jobs and/or businesses that were ongoing at the start of the second or later wave, respondents are asked no further information about the starting date.  Information about starting dates has not been concatenated into one variable per job or business for the 2018 panel. The relevant variables are EJB(1-7)_BMONTH and EJB(1-7)_STRTWK for the beginning month and week of jobs/businesses that began during the reference period.  The relevant variables are TJB(1-7)_STRTYR and EJB(1-7)STRTMN for the beginning year and month of jobs/businesses that were ongoing at the beginning of the reference period for new sample members.