User blog comment:Paul.rea/Teen Wolf News 081314/@comment-78.181.142.101-20140817122230/@comment-4091815-20140817141500

Only one year has passed for the characters.

January to January - as to the year, they decided early on to show dates on screen. They have since failed to maintain the timeline they themselves started.

Beyond that, what this article points out, they changed Malia's age with their latest "mistake." She was missing for 8 years having gone missing when she was 9 years old. She was therefore 17 when she was found in Season 3.

If the birth certificate is accurate, she was born in 98, then it must be 2016 since Malia would have had a birthday shorly after being found and would now be 18.

The birth certificate doesn't fit any of their established timelines or the various excuses they've provided about how they view the timeline issues.