I think families _do_ have an option and it's listed in the article. The author just didn't want to take that route as it's more merging of accounts than they are comfortable with.

I'd frame it more like Apple doesn't support the idea of shared resources except in a family account setting. A good example could be roommates living in a house and sharing a dog. A family account makes no sense here and the systems in place don't support sharing an AirTag for them.