A study was conducted in the Idukki and Ernakulam districts of Kerala with the general objective to find out the changes in livelihood pattern of the rural women, in context of increasing rate of urbanization. Two villages were selected randomly from each district respectively by random sampling method. Eighty respondents were selected at random from each village, which was again divided into two categories, viz., old age group (> 40 years) and young age group (20-40 years). Thus the total sample size constitutes 160 respondents. The results of the study revealed that 36.25 per cent of rural women were pursuing occupation in agriculture service sector, 13.25 per cent in industrial sector and 30.25 per cent in the service sector

Keyword: Livelihood options, rural