Standards have been introduced for providers to ensure a minimum level of quality and a new curriculum will for the first time establish educational objectives for children under the age of 4 years. Important planning tools are also under development, such as a unique child identifier and a geo-referenced database for care centres, to better target services towards those most in need. However, Costa Rica is lagging far behind most OECD countries and many Latin American countries in terms of the access, quality and equity of early years’ provision.