HI!
if i want to (using data from January 1971 to December 2020) transform the the month and year variables into a monthly date variable how can I do it in Stata?

I know i have to use the gen date = ym(year,month) and the the
format date %tm command

but I am unsure how to write those with my data being from January 1971 to December 2020

Thank you!