As a supercomma, a semicolon is necesssary as a list-separator, if you have list-items with embedded commas. Your "three families" example is spot-on. I wouldn'

As a supercomma, a semicolon is necesssary as a list-separator, if you have list-items with embedded commas. Your "three families" example is spot-on. I wouldn't know how to rewrite it, without using some Powerpoint-derived notation, such as bullet-lists, which just isn't conversational.