jQuery Mobile Form Date Input Format

I've got a simple form as part of a jQuery Mobile site which includes a date field:

<input type="date"  name="contactNewInspectionDate" id="contactNewInspectionDate" />

I'm trying to establish the format of what is submitted for these type="date" fields. So far I'm seeing something like this:

2012-02-16

for February 16, 2012.

Is YYYY-MM-DD always the submitted format for these date fields?

If that is the case can anyone recommend the easiest way to parse the individual elements out using PHP (Date, Month, Year)?

Many thanks, Steve